STC

On March 15, US President Donald Trump ordered a series of “decisive and powerful” airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthis in response to the group’s attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea. The operation marks the most significant US military engagement in the Middle East since Trump retook office, with the stated aims of degrading Houthi capabilities and sending…

The first weeks of 2025 offered hope that peace in Gaza could offer a reprieve in Yemen, as Houthi (Ansar Allah) leader Abdelmalek al-Houthi announced on January 16 that the group would suspend its attacks on commercial vessels, and a January 19 letter to shipping companies stated that any future strikes in the Red Sea would be limited to Israeli-linked…

The year-long Houthi (Ansar Allah) campaign of military attacks on Red Sea shipping came to a halt on January 19, following news of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Houthi leader Abdelmalek al-Houthi announced a conditional suspension of the attacks on US- and UK-affiliated shipping as long as Western airstrikes in Yemen ceased. However, the group said Israeli-linked vessels would still…

A year of war across the Middle East has profoundly reshaped the region, shifting power dynamics and redrawing the lines of local conflicts. For Yemen, the Gaza war and its repercussions have served as an intensifier to the conflict, driving peace to a stalemate and exacerbating local divisions. The end of 2024 saw an increase in fighting on several fronts,…

In response to dramatic regional developments stemming from the Gaza war and domestic pressure inside Yemen, the Houthis (Ansar Allah) pivoted on several fronts. Houthi leader Abdelmalek al-Houthi quickly stepped in to fill the leadership vacuum atop the Axis of Resistance following the September 27 assassination of his Lebanese ally and mentor, Hassan Nasrallah, which severely weakened Hezbollah in its…

This article was originally published by the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI). Conflict in Yemen over the past two decades, including the war since 2015, has been dominated by parties with ideologies rooted in religion. Religious ideologies play a key role in the policies adopted by these movements toward the recruitment of fighters into their ranks. There are…

The final months of 2024 – bookended by the assassination of Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in late September and the announcement of a Gaza ceasefire in January 2025 – were undoubtedly a period of redefinition for Houthi military leadership, as the group once again shifted its strategy in targeting Israel, the United States, and their strategic interests in the…

Away from the Red Sea crisis that dominated the headlines of 2024, the space for female political and social actors in Yemen has continued to shrink, largely unchecked. Today, the distinction between the repression in areas controlled by the Houthis and those under the internationally recognized government is becoming increasingly blurred. In Houthi-controlled areas, a campaign of terrifying arrests of…

Since 2022, the Southern Transitional Council (STC) has been at the forefront of efforts to regroup UAE-backed forces in Yemen, including those that operate under its own banner. These efforts have accelerated in recent months, involving the appointment of new officials and increased cooperation with other UAE-backed actors in Yemen. There are three reasons for this campaign: to build a…

Israel struck Yemen directly for the first time during the ongoing conflict in response to a Houthi drone that crept by Israeli defense systems and detonated in Tel Aviv. The July 19 Houthi attack was the first to reach central Israel, and killed one person and wounded 10 others. But it paled in comparison to the Israeli response the following…