Yemen clashes deepen as Houthi attacks revive civil war fears

Fresh clashes between Houthi rebels and Yemeni government forces continued in Taiz as the group also claimed a drone strike on a Saudi refinery. The flare-up has intensified fears of a return to full-scale war in Yemen amid wider regional turmoil.

In Short

• Taiz clashes killed one government soldier and critically wounded another overnight
• Houthi rebels said they launched another drone attack on Jazan refinery
• UN envoy warned Yemen faces its gravest conflict risk since 2022

Clashes between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and government forces in Yemen continued overnight into Thursday, raising fears that the country could slide back into large-scale civil war and open another front in the Middle East. The fighting unfolded amid wider regional tensions that also saw separate oil spill responses in Iran and Oman, fresh Israeli strikes in Gaza, and criticism from the US ambassador to Israel over a settlers' siege of Palestinian homes in the West Bank.

In Yemen, at least one government soldier was killed in Taiz and the Houthis said they had launched another drone attack on a Saudi Aramco refinery. At the same time, Iran and Oman were dealing with separate oil spills, while in Gaza at least two people were killed in Israeli strikes and US ambassador Mike Huckabee called a settlers' siege of a Palestinian-American family's home a "horrific act of terror".

Yemeni military officials told The Associated Press that at least one government soldier was killed and another was critically wounded in clashes with the Houthis in the mountainous province of Taiz. The fighting was part of a recent wave of Houthi attacks on government-held areas across the country, and the Yemeni military said dozens of government troops have been killed since last week.

The Houthis also said they had launched another drone attack on an Aramco oil refinery in the Saudi city of Jazan. Saudi officials did not immediately comment. Last weekend, the Houthis fired drones at the same refinery, where the Saudi Energy Ministry reported a fire but no casualties.

The Yemen conflict dates back to 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa. Saudi Arabia intervened the following year on the side of Yemen's internationally recognised government. Last month, the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi shipping, threatening another key trade route in the region.

Hans Grundberg, the UN special envoy for Yemen, told the UN Security Council in a video briefing on Thursday that Yemen is at greater risk of returning to large-scale conflict than at any time since a 2022 truce paused the fighting. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said Yemen faces a "catastrophe" from rising hunger and collapsing health services amid the conflict. He said 6 million people in Yemen face emergency levels of food insecurity bordering on famine, "the highest number globally".

Separate concerns were raised by oil spills off Iran and Oman as oil shipments have come under fire in the conflict involving Iran. Iran said on Thursday that it was working to clean up an oil spill off Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, and images distributed by the semiofficial ISNA news agency showed oil on the island's beaches.

Iran has not said what caused the spill, but TankerTrackers.com said it appeared to have begun with an Iranian attack on a bulk carrier off Oman. Iran has repeatedly attacked shipping in the strait since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Oman is responding to another spill in the Arabian Sea from a tanker grounded off its southern coast. The Caroline Bezengi, a sanctioned vessel believed to be part of Russia's "shadow fleet", has been grounded since reporting an explosion in June. No one has claimed responsibility and the cause remains unknown. A British maritime risk and response company said on Thursday that it had been hired to salvage the tanker and stop the leak. Oil from the ship has been spreading for weeks and has reached shores hundreds of kilometres north of the vessel.

In Gaza, health officials said Israeli strikes killed at least two people on Thursday and wounded several others. Jamal Abu Kamil, a Gaza governorate police chief, was killed when his vehicle was struck southwest of Gaza City, according to the territory's interior ministry and Shifa Hospital, where his body was taken along with a person wounded in the same strike. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that strike.

A separate Israeli strike killed a man and injured another person in Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital, where both were taken. The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas company commander in Khan Younis who "planned to execute terror attacks" against troops.

In the occupied West Bank, Huckabee condemned a siege by Israeli settlers of a Palestinian-American family's home, describing it on X as a "horrific act of terror". The remarks were an unusually sharp rebuke from the Trump administration as settler violence against Palestinians has surged in recent years.

Starting on Sunday, settlers targeted three homes in the village of Qusra, preventing those inside from leaving despite dwindling supplies. Qusai Abu Rida was inside with his teenage son when settlers cut the water and electricity, leaving them to drink well water as dozens of settlers put up tents outside. His Palestinian-American brother in Ohio, who owns the house, watched the siege on security cameras and sought updates. Loui Ridi, the homeowner in Ohio, said Israeli troops have intervened multiple times but the settlers keep returning.

In the northern West Bank, Israeli settlers and members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Cabinet on Thursday marked Israel's return to Ganim with a ceremony in front of new homes. Ganim was evacuated in 2005 as Israel withdrew from settlements in Gaza and parts of the West Bank. Last year, Netanyahu's Cabinet approved the return of settlers to Ganim and another former settlement near the Palestinian city of Jenin. "The era of withdrawals and expulsions has ended," Defence Minister Israel Katz said. "The era of construction and Zionism begins."

Thursday's developments brought together a series of flashpoints across the region, with escalating fighting in Yemen, oil spills off Iran and Oman, more deaths in Gaza and renewed focus on settler actions in the West Bank.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends