Saudi-Houthi Strikes Intensify as Yemenis Flee by Boat, Oil Routes Under Threat

Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement exchanged new cross-border strikes on Thursday, as civilians fled by boat across the Red Sea and the widening Middle East conflict raised fresh risks to global oil shipments.

Houthi-controlled television reported Saudi airstrikes in Hajjah province near the Saudi border and around Taiz further south. Saudi civil defence said a Yemeni resident of the kingdom was killed by debris from a drone intercepted over the western city of Taif — the first death Riyadh has announced since Houthi attacks escalated last week. More than 80 people had previously been reported wounded.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said a Togo-flagged oil tanker caught fire after being hit during what it called an illegal passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The vessel halted after the blaze, according to Iranian state media.

The spread of fighting to Yemen and Saudi Arabia has heightened concerns over oil supplies by endangering the Red Sea route for Gulf exports, while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains constrained. US President Donald Trump has declined Saudi requests for military support against the Houthis, who agreed a ceasefire with Washington last year after two months of US bombing.

Trump said on Thursday he faces a critical decision on whether to restart massive attacks on Iran. "I have a big decision coming up. Do I want to go in and annihilate them or do I not? It's a big decision. Anything could happen with me," he said in an interview with Axios. He has previously threatened major strikes that did not materialise.

Global crude prices eased slightly on Thursday but stayed well above $100 a barrel after hitting their highest levels since May. The average US retail diesel price reached a record high, just under $6.40 a gallon.

The United States and Iran have held no negotiations to end the war since an interim agreement in June collapsed within weeks. The conflict is expected to be discussed at the UN General Assembly next week, and an Iranian delegation will be able to attend, the US State Department said.

Fighting has driven Yemeni civilians to cross the Bab el-Mandeb, the narrow strait at the mouth of the Red Sea. In Djibouti, Wahida Omer, 50, reached land after fleeing by small boat from her village of Dhubab when it came under attack as Houthi forces advanced. Her husband was left behind, and she did not know if he was alive, dead or captured.

"The sea was frightening, difficult," she said in an interview filmed by the International Organization for Migration. Those on the boat were "crying the whole way, and we arrived still crying" with nothing to eat, she added.

The IOM says more than 100,000 Yemenis have been displaced by the latest fighting, mostly within Yemen. The Houthis, who have seized Yemen's entire Red Sea coast since last week, say Saudi airstrikes have numbered in the hundreds in recent days. On Wednesday, the group said it had shot down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet.

"We want the Saudis to cease their blockade and occupation of our country, and to stop their aggression against us. This is our demand!" Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech, seated with a traditional dagger at his belt. Slogans behind him read: "Death to America, death to Israel, a curse upon the Jews, victory for Islam."

The US Navy is guiding ships through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas passed before the war, and is enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports. Iran says the strait is closed and will remain shut until Washington lifts the blockade, and is seeking an agreement with neighbouring Gulf states to collect fees from passing vessels.