On February 14th Saudi warplanes dropped bombs on a telecommunications compound outside of Sana’a, the Yemeni capital. The airstrike was targeted at the Houthis, a Shia rebel group in Yemen. Saudis carried out additional attacks that day, some earlier and one that evening. According to Reuters, the bombing destroyed a Houthi system to control drones and drop bombs on Saudi Arabia, as well as alliance members. It is unclear how many casualties resulted from this attack, according to Al Jazeera, yet residents reported that phones and internet still worked. This airstrike was just a small part of an ongoing conflict in Yemen: a civil war between Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, and the internationally recognized government, backed by Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab states. 

The Saudi led airstrike on Monday was a response to offensive Houthi drones launched into Saudi Arabia on February 10th. The Saudis intercepted the Houthi drone, but debris fell around the Saudi Arabia Abha International airport and injured twelve people. After this airstrike, the Saudis warned of a counter attack and instructed civilians to evacuate Sana’a. However, a call for evacuation does not make up for civil violence and deaths as a result. According to the Yemen data project, 8,780 civilian deaths are attributable to airstrikes by the Saudi led coalition. This civil war has become one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and both the Saudis (fighting on behalf of the standing Yemeni government) and Houthis must stop their bombings. Unfortunately, neither side shows signs of ceasing their attacks. Aid from the United States, along with weak diplomatic efforts by the United Nations, has prevented a potentially quicker end to the conflict. 

The civil war dates back to the 1990s, when the Houthi group rose. Houthis are originally a Zaidi tribal political movement, part of Shi’a Islam. Centered heavily in Northern Yemen, Shi’ites make up the majority of the northern country and feel discriminated against by the Sunni government. In the past, Zaidi Imams controlled the North region and the Houthis want that power back. They live in a Shi’a majority region within a Sunni majority country ruled by a Sunni government. To them, this is unfair. Houthis have been fighting this political marginalization and religious discrimination, as well as economic underdevelopment. Violence escalated in 2004 and the standing Yemen government turned to the Saudi military for help. Since Iran views Saudi Arabia as a regional rival to Iran, they began to support the Houthis in order to prevent the Saudis from having more influence in the area. This created a proxy war from the civil war.

The Houthis continued to fight with Iran’s and gained control of Yemeni administrative divisions. By 2014, the Houthis seized the Sa’dah province in the North and began moving downwards towards the capital. After gaining partial control over the capital, the Houthis tried to negotiate lower fuel prices and a new government. Unfortunately, negotiations failed and the Houthi seized the presidential palace in January 2015. Iran continued to help the Houthis take over key areas of the country, and in response Saudi Arabia formed a coalition of Gulf States. The Saudi-led coalition orchestrated economic isolation campaigns and airstrikes against the Houthi to end Iranian influence in Yemen. The U.S., United Kingdom, and France all supported Saudi Arabia’s efforts and provided aid. Despite Saudi defense, by February 6th, 2015, the Houthi rule in Sana’a was official. However, fighting continued as Iran continued to back the Houthis. U.S. support stuck around, fueling the Saudi’s ability to fight violently. 

While the coalition effectively drove out Houthis from the South, the rebel group is still present in the North West and the capital. They continue to grasp for power in Taiz and Marib, the last two administrative divisions controlled by the standing government. This seven year ongoing civil war is worsening. Both Al Jazeera and France24 have noted an intensification of airstrikes recently, with more frequency and a broader scope. The Houthis are beginning to attack the United Arab Emirates, one of the coalition gulf states. 

The constant fighting and continuous attacks have taken their toll on the Yemeni population. According to the UN, from 2015 to the end of 2021, the war resulted in 377,000 deaths, 70% of those children. The living conditions in Yemen are deteriorating as well. Four million civilians were forced to flee their homes, finding themselves displaced and in a state of food insecurity and lacking health services. Even those who are not displaced suffer, with 15 million Yemenis living without enough food. One out of every two people in the country does not have access to safe water, which led to a massive cholera outbreak in 2016. Since the initial outbreak, there have been 2.5 million suspected cases and 4,000 related deaths. Further, only half of 3,500 medical facilities in the country fully function and 20% of Yemen districts have no doctors. The COVID-19 pandemic strained the healthcare system further. This means 20 million people living in already unsanitary conditions do not have access to adequate healthcare when a problem arises. Violence between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia is putting the entire country’s population at risk – poor conditions in the country are worsening and the death count is rising.  

Neither the Houthis nor the standing Yemeni government will surrender to their opponent, so Iran and Saudi Arabia will continue to engage in this proxy war.  The responsibility to conduct peace talks has fallen to other countries, including the U.S. and members of the UN. Unfortunately, the actions of the U.S. and UN have been ineffective in progressing peace talks. In the past, the U.S. provided offensive aid to Saudi Arabia, used to purchase weapons. The UN tried to broker peace talks in the summer of 2016, but failed. There was not a larger effort made to come to a peaceful resolution, so the issue has festered since. 

Recently, Western countries have seemed to try to reboot efforts for a peaceful resolution in the area. According to France24 the U.S. and UN are increasing their diplomatic efforts to resume peace talks to end the conflict. In 2021, Biden ended offensive aid, stopping to support offensive operations by the Saudi-led coalition. It remains unclear what the definition of “offensive” is and what aid will stop, but with a loss of extra U.S. aid the violence will slow. The Treasury Department also placed sanctions on Houthi military leaders to limit them economically. 

These diplomatic efforts are great and will make progress in the area, but a small push is not enough. If the U.S .and UN are truly invested in resolving the Yemen civil war conflict and keeping civilians safe, they must devote more resources to this conflict. Hundreds of thousands are dying and millions are living in suffering. With the crisis worsening and more people being put at risk each day, the U.S. and UN need to invest more resources into peace talks. If they don’t, nobody else will and Yemenis will continue to live in a state of suffering.