Overview
- Houthi forces have rapidly taken control of key Red Sea ports and islands near the Bab el‑Mandeb, putting a major alternative route for Gulf oil and trade at risk.
- U.S. diplomats met with Houthi representatives in Oman to press for protections for international shipping and to reaffirm a ceasefire that keeps U.S. vessels out of the fighting.
- Saudi authorities say they intercepted a drone headed for Mecca and that debris from an intercepted drone killed one person in Taif, a claim the Houthis strongly deny and that has drawn broad condemnation from Muslim organisations.
- Attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure, including damage to the East‑West pipeline that moves oil to the Red Sea, are squeezing export routes and have raised market and insurance costs because the pipeline can carry a material share of global supply.
- Fighting and airstrikes continue along Yemen’s coast, more than 100,000 people have fled their homes, and regional diplomacy is split between public denunciations and private efforts to prevent the conflict from widening.