The advance threatens the southern gateway to the Red Sea just as Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on that route to bypass Hormuz — putting pressure on critical shipping lanes on both sides of the Arabian Peninsula and raising the risk of further disruptions to oil and commercial traffic through a key global trade chokepoint.
"Now you have Iran on one side of the Arabian Peninsula controlling Hormuz, and now the Houthis controlling Bab el-Mandeb on the other side of the peninsula," Hisham Al-Omeisy, senior Yemen adviser at the European Institute of Peace, told Fox News Digital. "Which basically is going to drive prices — oil prices, goods and everything else — up exponentially. "
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Yemeni government sources said Thursay the Houthis captured Mocha and reached the Hanish Islands, while Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces withdrew south toward Dhubab, which sits directly on the Bab el-Mandeb opposite the strategic island of Perim. Control of Dhubab and Perim would be critical to gaining a stronger hold over the strait, Yemeni government sources told Reuters on Sept. 10. reported.
Bab el-Mandeb is only about 18 miles wide at its narrowest point and connects the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea and, farther north, the Suez Canal. It is a major artery for goods moving between Asia and Europe as well as energy shipments.
Its importance has grown dramatically during the Iran conflict.
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Al-Omeisy said the danger extends beyond the Houthis’ geographical gains. He said retreating government forces left behind military materiel that could strengthen Houthi forces on other fronts.
"People are focused on taking Mocha and those outposts on the Red Sea," Al-Omeisy said. "But the military side is terrible, particularly the equipment, the munitions, the vehicles, the drones that were at those military camps, which they can now, in turn, use against the government forces elsewhere. "
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The seizure comes amid what conflict-monitoring organization ACLED described Sept. 9 as the most serious escalation between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed camp since hostilities resumed in mid-July.
ACLED recorded at least 276 fatalities between Sept. 3 and Sept. 7 as clashes spread across al-Dali, al-Bayda, Marib, Shabwa, al-Jawf, al-Hudayda and Taizz, according to an analysis published Sept. 9.
Sherwan Hindreen Ali, ACLED’s Middle East research manager, said fighting along the Red Sea coast had become particularly intense as both sides sought control over territory with direct strategic importance to Bab el-Mandeb.
"Fighting will remain focused on the fronts of the Red Sea coast in al-Hudaydah and Taizz, where both the Houthis and the Saudi Arabia/IRG have a vested interest in claiming the whole territory to deprive the other side of effective control of the strait of Bab el-Mandab," Ali said in an analysis.
Saudi Arabia itself has also become more deeply involved.
'GENERAL ESCALATION'
OF FIGHTING IF HOUTHIS RESUME RED SEA CAMPAIGN
The Houthis responded Sept. 8 with what Ali described as their largest wave of direct attacks on Saudi territory since March 2022, launching dozens of drones and ballistic missiles toward Abha, Jizan, Najran and Khamis Mushait. Ali said the attacks injured 73 people.
The widening fighting is now posing an early test for a new joint defense agreement between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey.
Al-Omeisy said the international response allowed the Houthis to exploit divisions among their opponents.
"The Houthis are also good in exploiting divisions and delays, they move rapidly on the ground to force a status quo while the international community debates merits, responsibilities and costs of an intervention - which they will the ultimately pay on the long run. "
The escalation also raises questions about Saudi Arabia’s newly signed .
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"There is no such thing under discussion right now," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said, according to Reuters. "When time comes [we] will act under the agreement. " ()
The Houthis, meanwhile, have said international navigation through the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb remains safe, while maintaining that Saudi vessels are subject to their previously announced blockade, Reuters reported Thursday. ()
Al-Omeisy warned that reversing the Houthis’ latest territorial gains could become increasingly difficult.
"The Houthis are really good at capturing a position, they entrench really well," he said. "They send these massive reinforcements, and then it’s going to be extremely difficult to push them out of those areas. "
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Lachter’s reporting has taken her into conflict zones and crisis areas across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa. Her work has included uncovering human trafficking networks, revealing an ISIS underground torture prison in Syria, documenting the and interviewing senior political figures and world leaders. She was also among the Western journalists who entered Russia after the war began to bring testimonies from Putin’s opposition. Lachter is the recipient of the 2022 Peres Center for Peace Award and was a 2023–2024 Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan. She also won two Rockower Awards for Excellence in Reporting. She holds a bachelor's degree in communication and a master's degree in political science.