Sanaa, Yemen – Inside Yasser’s cramped 3-by-3-metre (10-by-10ft) ice cream shop, three refrigerators are stacked with frozen goods.The shop provides just enough for the 45-year-old to support his family of five and not have to rely on anyone else.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listDisruptions to his business are not welcome. If prices go up or if people spend less, then he is at risk.So when Yasser saw that Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who control the city of Sanaa, where he lives, had involved themselves in the United States-Israeli war on Iran, he started getting worried about the consequences.“The moment Israel begins its military response to the Houthis, we will lose the little comfort we have today. Fear, price hikes and fuel shortages will suffocate us. The end of the conflict is unpredictable,” Yasser said.The Houthis claimed their first attack on Israel in support of Iran on March 28, pledging their strikes “will continue until the declared objectives are achieved”. But the strikes have been limited and have been intercepted by Israel, and the Houthis are yet to attack shipping in the Red Sea as they have done in the past.But even with this limited entry into the war, fear among civilians in Sanaa has been palpable.Israel struck Yemen repeatedly in 2024 and 2025, and the expectation is that those attacks will resume. Any attacks could also trigger displacement, fuel shortages and inflation.That would signal a new …
