Since late July, Houthi forces have extended their reach along Yemen's Red Sea coast, uprooting more than 132,000 people from towns like Mokha and pushing toward the strategic heights above the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. What unfolds is not merely a shift in territorial control but a deepening of one of the world's most prolonged humanitarian ordeals — a country where millions were already adrift now absorbing fresh waves of the displaced, the injured, and the bereaved. The human cost, measured in abandoned homes and shared meals every other day, reminds us that wars are ultimately lived not in kil
Houthi territorial gains displace 132,000 Yemenis, deepening humanitarian catastrophe
Over 132,000 people displaced; 674 killed and 2,998 injured since August; families forced to flee homes without possessions; risk of renewed siege conditions threatening food security and humanitarian access.
They share one meal together every other day.
Mark
So 132,000 people displaced in a matter of weeks—that's a staggering number. How does that compare to what Yemen was already dealing with?
Mimi
Yemen had 5.2 million internally displaced people before this started. So this is adding roughly 2.5 percent to an already catastrophic situation. But the speed matters. These aren't gradual movements; families are fleeing with nothing.
Luke
Wait—do we know if that 132,000 figure is from the IOM, or is it an estimate? And does it include people who fled across borders, or just internal displacement?
Mimi
It's from the IOM. The reporting specifies it's displacement from the fighting, and the UN refugee agency says more than 90,000 went to specific governorates. Some are predicted to flee to Djibouti and Somalia, but those numbers aren't confirmed yet.
Mark
The camps sound completely overwhelmed. That Al-Kud site went from 1,460 to 2,629 people in one week. What happens when you add that many people to a place with one latrine?
Mimi
Disease, malnutrition, breakdown of services. The Norwegian Refugee Council said there's no funding for the new arrivals. People are surviving on the generosity of other displaced families—one man was hosting 22 families and sharing one meal every other day.
Luke
That's a powerful detail, but I want to be careful: is that one family's situation, or is that representative? Because those are very different stories.
Mimi
It's one man's situation that an aid worker witnessed. We shouldn't generalize it to all camps. But it illustrates the desperation.
Mark
And Taiz—people are genuinely afraid of a repeat of 2015-2016?
Mimi
Yes. The Houthis besieged it for two years then. Cut off food, medicine, aid. People remember that vividly. Now the mountains are 40 kilometers away and getting closer.
Luke
The reporting says the Houthis are advancing toward Kahboub Mountains, but it doesn't say how fast or how likely they are to actually reach Taiz. That's important context we don't have.
Mark
What's the strategic value of those mountains?
Mimi
They overlook the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key shipping route. Saudi Arabia has been using it to export oil while Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz. If the Houthis control that territory, they control a chokepoint.
Luke
And the Houthis are Iran-backed, so there's a regional dimension here that the reporting touches on but doesn't fully explore. That's worth noting.
O Pulso
- Houthi forces have seized Mokha and much of Yemen's Red Sea coast since July, killing at least 674 people and injuring nearly 3,000 since August alone.
- Over 132,000 people have fled with little more than the clothes on their backs, flooding camps in Aden, Abyan, and Marib that were already overwhelmed by 5.2 million pre-existing displaced persons.
- In Abyan's Al-Kud camp, 317 families arrived in a single week, more than doubling the site's population, with no new funding to meet the surge — one man hosts 22 families in a single shelter sharing one meal every other day.
- Houthi advances toward the Kahboub Mountains, just 40 kilometers from Taiz, are reviving fears of a repeat siege like the one that strangled the city for nearly two years in 2015–2016, as gas vanishes from markets and merchants stop coming.
- The UN warns that intensifying fighting could push displacement beyond Yemen's borders into Djibouti, Somalia, and beyond, while the government insists on restoring state authority even as the battlefield continues to shift against it.
Since late July, Houthi forces have extended their reach along Yemen's Red Sea coast, uprooting more than 132,000 people from towns like Mokha and pushing toward the strategic heights above the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. What unfolds is not merely a shift in territorial control but a deepening of one of the world's most prolonged humanitarian ordeals — a country where millions were already adrift now absorbing fresh waves of the displaced, the injured, and the bereaved. The human cost, measured in abandoned homes and shared meals every other day, reminds us that wars are ultimately lived not in kilometers gained but in the quiet devastation of ordinary lives undone.
Mohammed Musleh had no time to pack when Houthi fighters ordered his family out of Mokha in September. He and his wife Muna fled to Aden with their two young daughters, telling the children they would be home soon — a promise neither parent knows they can keep. Their story is one of more than 132,000 unfolding across Yemen since the militia began pushing south and east from its northern strongholds in late July, seizing much of the Red Sea coast from forces loyal to the internationally recognized government.
The World Health Organization has documented at least 674 deaths and nearly 3,000 injuries since August, though the true toll is almost certainly higher. The Houthis are now advancing toward the Kahboub Mountains, a strategic range overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, just 40 kilometers from the government-held city of Taiz. Residents there remember the 2015–2016 siege that cut off food, medicine, and aid for nearly two years. Gas is already disappearing from markets. "We fear that if the Houthis tighten their grip on Taiz, we will find ourselves under siege again," said one resident named Rania.
The displaced are pouring into camps that were already beyond capacity. More than 90,000 of the newly uprooted have sought refuge across southern governorates. At the Al-Kud camp in Abyan, 317 families arrived in a single week, swelling the population from 1,460 to 2,629 people with no new funding to support them. An advocacy adviser with the Norwegian Refugee Council met a man named Mustapha there — displaced seven years ago and never able to return — who was now sheltering 22 families from his hometown in a single structure. They shared one latrine and one meal every other day.
Yemen was already carrying an enormous burden before this escalation: more than 5.2 million internally displaced, 22 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, and tens of thousands of refugees from Somalia and Ethiopia. The UN warns that continued fighting could push people not just across Yemen but into neighboring countries. Yemen's Presidential Council chairman speaks of restoring state authority, but analyst Hisham Al-Omeisy captured the ground-level reality plainly: the Houthis may count kilometers, but Yemenis are counting homes abandoned, families torn apart, and lives lost. The camps keep filling.
Mohammed Musleh was packing nothing when the Houthis told him to leave. It was September, and the Iran-backed militia had just taken Mokha, the port town where his family had lived. There was no time to gather documents, no time to think. His wife Muna remembers the order as absolute: go, now. They fled to Aden with their two young daughters and moved in with relatives, telling the children they would be home soon. They do not know if that is true.
Musleh's family is one of more than 132,000 people displaced by Houthi territorial gains since late July. The militia has been pushing south and east from its strongholds in northern Yemen, seizing control of much of the Red Sea coast from forces loyal to the internationally recognized government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia. The fighting has intensified month by month, and so has the displacement. The World Health Organization documented at least 674 deaths and nearly 3,000 injuries since August alone, though the actual toll is likely higher as clashes continue.
The Houthis are now advancing toward the Kahboub Mountains, a strategic range that overlooks the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical waterway through which Saudi oil has been routed as an alternative to Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The mountains sit only 40 kilometers southwest of Taiz, a government-held city where residents are already bracing for what may come. Fatima, a mother in Taiz, tells her children that the sound of shelling is fireworks. She and others remember 2015 and 2016, when Houthi forces besieged the city for nearly two years, cutting off food, medicine, and aid. Gas is already disappearing from markets. Merchants have stopped coming. Rania, another Taiz resident, said plainly: "We fear that if the Houthis tighten their grip on the city of Taiz, we will find ourselves under siege again."
The displacement is flowing into camps already stretched beyond capacity. The International Organization for Migration reports that more than 90,000 of the newly displaced have sought refuge in Aden, Lahj, Abyan, Al Dhale'e, and even Marib. At the Al-Kud camp in Abyan, 317 families arrived in a single week after the fighting began, swelling the site from 1,460 to 2,629 people. There is no new funding to support them. Alison Bottomley, an advocacy adviser with the Norwegian Refugee Council, visited the camp and met Mustapha, a man displaced seven years earlier during the previous war. He has been living there ever since. He was now hosting 22 families from his hometown in a single shelter. They shared one latrine. When asked how they all ate, he said they shared one meal every other day.
Yemen was already in crisis before this escalation. More than 5.2 million people were internally displaced before the latest fighting began. Around 22 million require humanitarian assistance overall, including roughly 65,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, mostly from Somalia and Ethiopia. The UN refugee agency warned this week that conditions at displacement sites are "increasingly severe," with people arriving to find urgent shortages of shelter, food, clean water, healthcare, and protection. The agency predicted that intensifying fighting could drive even larger waves of displacement, with people fleeing not just within Yemen but to Djibouti, Somalia, and beyond.
Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen's Presidential Council, said the government's goal remains restoring state authority nationwide, regardless of recent battlefield losses. But for families like the Muslehs, and for the tens of thousands now crowded into camps or huddled in cities waiting to see if siege conditions return, the question is not about maps or political goals. It is whether they will eat tomorrow, whether their children will be safe, whether home still exists. Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi released a video message saying western and southern Yemenis are not targets. Yemeni political analyst Hisham Al-Omeisy called this hollow. "The Houthis may measure this offensive in kilometers gained and territory seized," he said, "but Yemenis are measuring it in homes abandoned, families torn apart, and lives lost." The fighting continues. The displacement continues. The camps fill.
Citações Notáveis
The Houthis may measure this offensive in kilometers gained and territory seized, but Yemenis are measuring it in homes abandoned, families torn apart, and lives lost.— Hisham Al-Omeisy, Yemeni political analyst
We fear that if the Houthis tighten their grip on the city of Taiz, we will find ourselves under siege again.— Rania, Taiz resident
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Leia o original em Deutsche Welle ↗