Houthi Offensive Displaces 115,000 in Yemen, Families Flee Barefoot.

Rawya Hassan and her family fled barefoot from their camp in Yemen this week as a Houthi offensive erupted.

An estimated 115,000 people have been displaced by a rapid advance by the Houthi group. The Houthis seized the port city of Mocha and the southern stretch of Yemen’s Red Sea coast last week. Displaced people fled into government-held areas and across the sea to Djibouti. Fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces erupted again amid spillover from the wider conflict between Iran and the United States, after largely subsiding following a 2022 truce.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) stated over 100,000 to 112,000 Yemeni civilians have been displaced by the fighting in the past two weeks. Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Houthi movement, denied responsibility for a drone attack on Mecca on Tuesday, calling the story a “fabrication.” He insisted Saudi civilian energy infrastructure was a legitimate target and said attacks would continue as long as Saudis and Yemen government forces continue military operations.

Saudi civil defense officials reported a Yemeni national killed and two others injured by falling debris from a Houthi drone intercepted over Taif. The European Union (EU) expressed “full solidarity with Saudi Arabia” and called on the Houthis to “cease all military action.” The Houthis claimed three children were killed and several Yemeni nationals injured in strikes by Saudi-backed mercenaries in Taiz and Abs.