Yemen rebels report fresh Saudi strikes as conflict deepens

Yemen's Houthi rebels reported dozens of Saudi airstrikes on Wednesday as daily attacks continued in a conflict reignited by the wider Middle East war. Hundreds of people have been killed in fighting near the Red Sea.

How many Saudi strikes have hit Yemen this week?

More than 50 attacks targeted several regions on Wednesday, including the flashpoint areas of Taiz and Hodeida, the rebels said. These areas have seen fierce clashes between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces. The latest salvos follow a day after the Iran-backed Houthis set oil sites ablaze and wounded 73 people in their heaviest missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia in years.

"It's a catastrophe, and the attacks are ongoing," said Mohammed Khudairi, one of nearly 20,000 people who fled the fighting, according to the International Organization for Migration. He spoke at a displacement camp of wood-and-straw huts near Khokha on the Red Sea coast, adding that others remained trapped in the fighting.

How many people have died in Yemen's renewed conflict?

The fighting in Yemen has killed more than 500 people since the Houthis launched a major offensive last week to seize territory around the Bab al-Mandab strait, the gateway to the Red Sea shipping route. The rebels have also been attacking Saudi oil tankers in an effort to tighten pressure on shipments, a lifeline for exports after Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

The rebels' Al-Masirah TV channel reported the death toll from Saudi strikes on a prison days earlier had climbed to 32 dead and seven injured, as rescue and recovery efforts continued. The Middle East war, which erupted in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, has drawn in Yemen, the Gulf and other regional players while pushing oil prices back to $100 a barrel on Wednesday.

Why is Hodeida central to the Yemen conflict?

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said Saudi forces conducted 54 airstrikes over 12 hours, targeting Al-Jawf, Marib, Taiz, Hodeida and Saada provinces. Footage released by the group showed what it said were strikes on Saudi-backed forces along Al-Jawf's frontlines. Saudi Arabia has not issued an official comment.

Analysis from the Institute for the Study of War said Hodeida, held by the Houthis, could be the ultimate objective of Saudi-backed forces. The Red Sea port is critical to both Houthi civilian and military supply lines, and its loss would mark a significant setback for the group, the institute's report said.

What triggered the return to fighting between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia?

Saudi civil defense issued two warnings for the southern governorate of Khamis Mushait, near Yemen, and one for Abha city, before quickly lifting the alerts without explanation. On Tuesday, Saudi authorities vowed to respond to Houthi attacks that caused fires and temporary shutdowns at oil sites.

The Houthis triggered the return to hostilities in July by allowing an Iranian plane to land in defiance of Saudi control over Yemeni airspace. The government retaliated by striking the airport, an attack the rebels blamed on Saudi Arabia. The ongoing exchanges risk returning Yemen to the conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of people and sparked one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, after the Houthis seized Yemen's capital and fought a Saudi-led coalition from 2015 until a UN-brokered ceasefire in 2022.