Houthis expand Red Sea control with seizure of Greater and Lesser Hanish islands

الحوثيون وباب المندب - صورة تعبيرية عن الهجوم والسيطرة على الممر البحري — Alhothi

Euro Times / Stockholm — Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have seized the strategic Greater Hanish and Lesser Hanish islands in the southern Red Sea, extending their territorial gains along one of the world’s most important maritime corridors.

Two Yemeni government officials and a Houthi official told the Associated Press that Houthi fighters deployed on the two islands after hundreds of government-allied troops withdrew. The islands lie roughly 160 kilometres north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The capture gives the Houthis additional positions along the southern Red Sea shipping route after their recent advances on Yemen’s western coast and the seizure of Perim, also known as Mayun, inside Bab el-Mandeb.

The development adds to pressure on regional energy and shipping routes at a time when traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains severely disrupted. Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline, an important alternative route that allows crude to bypass Hormuz and reach the Red Sea, has also been badly damaged and is expected to remain largely out of service for several weeks.

Reuters had reported last week that Houthi forces had reached the Hanish islands during their rapid advance along Yemen’s Red Sea coast. The latest AP reporting confirms the deployment of Houthi forces on Greater and Lesser Hanish following the withdrawal of government-aligned troops.

The expanding conflict is also deepening Yemen’s humanitarian crisis. More than 100,000 people have now been displaced by renewed fighting, according to the UN refugee agency, while thousands have sought to flee across the Red Sea toward Djibouti.