Yemen war escalates: Nearly 50,000 flee homes as Iran-backed Houthi offensive threatens Red Sea trade

More than 46,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Yemen in the past week as a rapid Houthi offensive along the Red Sea coast threatens to push the country back into a wider war and deepen an already severe humanitarian crisis.According to The Guardian, entire villages have been emptied as Houthi forces, backed by Iran, seized a string of towns from forces aligned with the US- and Saudi-backed Yemeni government.The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) said 46,000 people had been displaced across the Taiz and Hodeidah governorates, with many families being forced to flee for a second or third time.The latest fighting marks the most serious escalation in Yemen since a UN-brokered truce in 2022.The UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, warned that the country had entered “a new and more dangerous phase of war”, saying the renewed fighting could draw Yemen deeper into the wider regional conflict.Families flee with little more than clothesFor civilians caught in the fighting, the latest offensive has meant abandoning homes with little warning.For those who have escaped the latest fighting, the immediate concern is survival. “We managed to leave, but others remain trapped there,” one displaced man, Mohammed Khudairi, told the Guardian.The New York Times reported that some families fled after shells landed near their houses, while others were forced to make difficult journeys on foot or in improvised vehicles.One displaced Yemeni, Al-Megdad Hashem, said 34 people, including his family and elderly parents, crowded into a truck normally used to transport construction material after shelling wounded two people. “It was difficult to take anything,” he was quoted as saying by the NYT.The Guardian reported that aid workers were struggling to keep pace with the rapidly changing situation, with civilians in need of emergency shelter, food, drinking water, healthcare and other assistance. “The scale of displacement is increasing rapidly,” Joe Lowry, an IOM spokesperson, said.Houthi advance threatens key Red Sea routeThe Houthi offensive has also raised concerns beyond Yemen because of its proximity to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a crucial maritime chokepoint linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.Houthi forces this week captured the strategic port city of Mokha and an island in the waterway, according to Yemeni officials cited by the New York Times. The moves give the Iran-backed group a foothold near the Bab al-Mandab, through which major energy and commercial shipments pass.Houthis' control of key areas near the strait could have serious consequences for global trade. Any attempt to close the chokepoint could force ships to take a much longer route around southern Africa, adding thousands of nautical miles to journeys.The fighting has already added to pressure on oil prices, with the Guardian reporting that crude had risen above USD 100 a barrel after trading closer to $80 for weeks.Yemen's humanitarian crisis worsensThe renewed fighting comes as Yemen was already facing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. More than 18 million people are facing acute food insecurity, while 2.2 million children are acutely malnourished, according to figures cited by the New York Times.The crisis has been compounded by a shortage of humanitarian funding. The World Food Programme has suspended food aid in some areas and reduced monthly cash assistance, while Yemen's healthcare system remains under severe pressure.The NYT reported that more than 17,600 measles cases had been recorded in Yemen in the first seven months of the year. At a hospital in the government-held city of Marib, maternity and obstetric services have also been suspended to make room for trauma patients.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.