UN envoy to Yemen warns of a ‘devastating’ regional escalation

The Houthis are a highly underestimated group that now threatens Israel and Red Sea shipping vessels, as well as civil war in Yemen. The Houthis are an Iranian proxy that was up until recently at war with Saudi Arabia. That war came to be recognized as a Saudi-Iran proxy war that went on for years. In April 2022, the UN managed to broker a ceasefire deal between the Houthis and Saudi-led coalition, but not before the deaths of “over 377,000 deaths, with 60% the result of hunger, lack of healthcare and unsafe water.” The ceasefire deal has not been renewed.

On the one hand, the Houthis threaten to ignite rapid regional escalation, and on the other hand, they represent a weak spot, a division in the Muslim ummah, which has so far been united against Israel. Now the Houthis are poised to escalate sectarian war with their fellow Muslims.

The Houthis are a Zaydi Shiite movement that has been battling against Yemen’s Sunni-majority government since 2004.

The group managed to take over the Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014; by 2016, it controlled much of north Yemen.

According to the Wilson Center, “Yemeni officials and Sunni states have repeatedly alleged that Iran and its proxy Hezbollah have provided arms, training, and financial support to the Houthis.”

In 2022, “Hans Grundberg, the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, said in a statement that he would work with the warring parties to reach a political settlement and end the war.” Two years later, Grundberg is saying that  “Yemen’s warring parties — the internationally recognized government and Houthi rebels – informed him Monday night ‘that they have agreed on a path to de-escalate a cycle of measures and countermeasures which had sought to tighten their grip on the banking and transport sectors.’”

It’s the same hope he held out two years ago, and nothing worked out. The Houthis have served as an arm of Iran, doing the Islamic Republic’s bidding.

“Tensions in Yemen could lead to ‘devastating’ regional escalation, says UN envoy,” France 24, July 24, 2024:

Despite renewed communication efforts between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels, Hans Grundberg, the UN envoy to Yemen, warned the UN Security Council that growing international tensions have reached a “new and dangerous level,” and ongoing domestic disputes could plunge Yemen back into a “full-scale war”.

The UN envoy for Yemen warned Tuesday that recent developments in the Red Sea, Israel and inside the country “show the real danger of a devastating region-wide escalation” — but he also pointed to a glimmer of hope.

Hans Grundberg said Yemen’s warring parties — the internationally recognized government and Houthi rebels – informed him Monday night “that they have agreed on a path to de-escalate a cycle of measures and countermeasures which had sought to tighten their grip on the banking and transport sectors.”

But he warned the UN Security Council that seven months of escalating actions reached “a new and dangerous level last week” which saw a Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv and Israeli retaliatory attacks on Yemen’s key port of Hodeida and its oil and power facilities.

He said Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways continue and the rebels are escalating their crackdown “on civic space and on international organizations.” Airstrikes on Houthi targets by the United States and United Kingdom are also continuing, he said.….