Houthi forces took the Red Sea port city of Mokha on 10 September 2026, and the following day seized Dhubab, on the Bab el-Mandeb strait itself, along with Perim Island and the Red Sea islands of Hanish, Zuqar and Jazir. It is the group’s largest territorial gain in years against Yemeni government forces backed by Saudi Arabia, and the most serious fighting since the UN-brokered truce of 2022.
Mokha sits about 75 kilometres from Bab el-Mandeb, the strait that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and normally carries around twelve per cent of world goods. Its capture matters beyond Yemen because the strait has become the alternative route to the Strait of Hormuz at the moment Hormuz is largely disrupted. Seizing it would give Iran a second chokepoint to threaten.
Saudi Arabia struck Mokha airport on 11 September. The International Organization for Migration reported at least 46,000 people displaced since fighting resumed the previous week, a figure it said was rising by the hour. Three districts of Taiz were emptied and the Mokha–Taiz supply road was cut. UN OCHA recorded at least fourteen civilians killed or injured since the start of September.
Houthi officials have said there is no need for international concern and that navigation in the Red Sea remains safe. The UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, has warned the renewed war risks a wider regional crisis and called on the Houthis to stop attacks inside Yemen, cross-border strikes on Saudi Arabia, and threats to commercial shipping.
