Anti-Houthi factions in Yemen could be vying for US support to attack the movement’s territory, analysts and experts told Al Jazeera, following intensified air strikes on Houthi targets by the United States.The war in Yemen has largely been frozen for the last three years. Still, groups aligned with the Yemeni government have started signalling that they could launch operations against areas controlled by the pro-Iranian Houthis, including the crucial port of Hodeidah.
A similar campaign on Hodeidah, a critical entry point for food and goods on the Red Sea coast, seemed imminent in 2018, only to be aborted after intervention from the United Nations and the international community, who feared a humanitarian disaster in Yemen.
But experts and analysts expressed doubt that an attack by anti-Houthi groups on their domestic rival would be successful, despite some likening it to the offensive that unseated another Iran ally, former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in late 2024.
Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree addresses a rally in solidarity with Palestinians and the Gaza Strip and in condemnation of Israel and the US, in the capital Sanaa on May 2, 2025 [Mohammed Huwais/AFP]
“Pro-ROYG [Republic of Yemen Government] voices have been asserting that ground operations against the Houthis – in Hodeidah and potentially elsewhere – are imminent,” Hannah Porter, an independent Yemen analyst, told Al Jazeera. Advertisement
“My impression so far is that these comments are just mean …
