Houthi Rebels Enter Yemen's Mokha Port, Threatening Fragile Truce

Houthi rebels have entered the strategic Red Sea port city of Mokha in western Yemen, according to residents and local doctors, in a development that could bring the group closer to targeting shipping through one of the world's most important waterways.

Mokha sits about 80 kilometres from the Bab el-Mandeb strait, which links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Control of the city would edge the Houthis nearer to their stated goal of disrupting traffic through the chokepoint.

The city had long been held by forces loyal to Yemen's internationally recognised government. Resident Amin al-Mohammdi said the rebels entered Mokha and spread across its intersections, with all roads leading to the city from the west coast closed and shops shut. Another resident, Mohamed Salem, said he saw vehicles belonging to Houthi forces on the streets.

Three doctors said they fled a hospital in Mokha after it was seized by the rebels. Speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear for their safety, they said other residents were also leaving, heading south towards Aden, which is controlled by Saudi-backed forces.

The claims could not be independently verified.

The Houthis have been locked in a civil war with the internationally recognised government since 2014. The renewed fighting now threatens a fragile truce that took effect in 2022.

According to a trooper with the Yemeni armed forces, Ahmed al-Mawazi, and Abdel Kader al-Sharabi, a member of the Saudi-backed forces supporting the government, the rebels have recently made advances in Taiz province, where Mokha is located. Both said the Houthis had seized the al-Shaqira area, an important supply route connecting the provincial capital Taiz and other inland areas to the western coast.

Government forces launched airstrikes targeting Houthi reinforcements west of Taiz, the two men added. Clashes also continued along the western coast, particularly towards the southern part of the key port city of Hodeida, with fighting taking place near crucial supply routes.

Al-Masirah TV, which is controlled by the Houthis, claimed that Saudi-backed forces carried out 40 airstrikes in recent hours in the provinces of Taiz, Jawf, Hodeida and Marib. That claim could not be independently verified, and there was no immediate comment from government forces.

Separately, an Israeli strike killed at least four people in northern Gaza, including two children. Israel also warned Iran of a "powerful response" if Tehran attacks, threatening that it could target Iran's energy facilities in retaliation.