Houthi Siege of Taiz Hits 30 Days, Cutting Off 1.5 Million People as Saudi Arabia Sounds 3 Alerts

A view of Taiz, Yemen (file photo). Photo: المصور أنس الحاج, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Houthi siege of Taiz has now lasted a month, with food, fuel, medical supplies and water unable to reach the southwestern Yemeni city, Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday. The blockade began when the Houthis seized al-Turbah, a town in the far southwest of Taiz governorate, severing the city’s main road to Aden. The Houthis reached the outskirts of Taiz in 2015 and had besieged it from the north, east and south; by taking the governorate’s western countryside, they have now completely encircled the city.

Key figures: 30 days length of the houthi siege of taiz · 1.5 million people living in taiz city, per al jazeera · 3 saudi civil defense danger alerts on wednesday

The siege affects the 1.5 million people living in Taiz city, as well as residents of rural districts, including about 180,000 displaced people trapped by fighting along the main road between Lahj and Taiz, according to Al Jazeera. Salah Ahmed Ghaleb al-Majidi, acting director of the governorate’s Siege Affairs Department, called it “the worst catastrophic siege imposed on a Yemeni city since the war began in 2014.” Tonnes of rubbish that cannot be sent to landfills outside the city are piling up in the streets, Al Jazeera reported.

Prices and hospitals

The blockade has driven up the cost of getting in and out. One resident told Al Jazeera that the shared-taxi fare from Aden rose from 35 Saudi riyals ($9.33) per passenger before the fighting to 100 riyals ($26.66) on his return, and that his family passed through nearly 20 new Houthi checkpoints on the way. Taysir al-Samei, information officer at the governorate’s health office, said access to the city’s hospital had fallen by 60% to 70% by the end of the siege’s second week. Hospitals are short of medical supplies and of the fuel needed to keep essential services running.

Alerts in Saudi Arabia and strikes in Yemen

Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defense said the danger had passed in southwestern Najran Province on Wednesday after warning of a “potential danger,” its second alert for the province that day, Anadolu Agency reported. Authorities also issued and then lifted a warning for Riyadh Province. Anadolu said the alerts came amid ongoing Houthi attacks on Saudi territory.

Inside Yemen, four airstrikes hit Houthi weapons depots and military vehicles at the Central Security Camp in Al-Bayda province, Al-Jumhuriya TV reported, citing field sources, according to Anadolu. The broadcaster gave no casualty figures and did not say who carried out the strikes. Aden TV reported that a Houthi ballistic missile struck a prison at the Iron Factory in Lahj province, with reports of deaths and injuries among detainees.

Yemen’s army said it had carried out 1,208 strikes against Houthi positions under Operation Dawn of Yemen, which began Oct. 5, and claimed to have “neutralized” about 370 commanders and fighters and destroyed or disabled about 120 vehicles and pieces of equipment, Anadolu reported. The army did not give a time frame, and the Houthis had not commented. Fighting resumed in July and has displaced more than 250,000 people, according to U.N. reports.

Iran diplomacy

Away from Yemen, mediators kept up efforts to prevent renewed U.S. strikes on Iran. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi regularly seeks talks with him. “I am not pushing to speak with Iran’s foreign minister; he regularly asks me to speak with him again,” Wadephul said on the Politik mit Anne Will podcast, adding that a decision on further U.S. military action had not yet been made, Iran International reported.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged Washington and Tehran to show flexibility and make room for a deal “before it is too late,” warning that renewed fighting could have “catastrophic” consequences, and called President Donald Trump a “man of peace,” Anadolu reported. Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, discussed with Araghchi by phone Tuesday concerns that regional events could lead to renewed escalation and military action, Mehr News Agency reported !Unverified claim, Mehr (Iranian state-affiliated media).

The New York Times reported that Israeli intelligence claims that Iran is considering using chemical weapons have divided U.S. officials, according to Anadolu. A regional official told the Times that Israel presented the assessments to Gulf governments without supporting evidence, and Gulf governments reportedly found them unconvincing. Iran has repeatedly denied possessing chemical weapons.

Mohammad Moghadamfar, an adviser to the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, warned that if Iranian commanders are targeted, “they should expect their own commanders and leaders to be killed,” and said Iran’s responses “will no longer be reciprocal or proportional,” according to Fars News Agency, Anadolu reported !Unverified claim, Fars (IRGC-affiliated Iranian media). Today’s other Iran developments, including two more executions in Isfahan, are in our Iran Daily Briefing, and Trump’s threat of a “heavy hit” after the Qeshm strike is in our report on the U.S. response. Our Iran war tracker follows the conflict day by day.

Israeli defense and finance officials had no advance knowledge of Trump’s announcement that Washington would stop providing about $4 billion in annual aid by the end of 2026, Ynet and KAN reported, according to Anadolu. Trump announced the aid cut on Tuesday.

By the numbers

The figures from Al Jazeera and the U.N. show the scale of the humanitarian squeeze. By TBR calculations from Al Jazeera’s reporting, the Aden-to-Taiz fare has nearly tripled, up about 186%, during the siege.

Watch for any U.N. move to open a humanitarian corridor into Taiz, more Houthi fire toward Saudi Arabia and the next round of U.S.-Iran contacts through mediators.

Sources

• Al Jazeera: Houthis' monthlong siege on Taiz creating misery for trapped Yemenis
• Anadolu Agency: Saudi Arabia says danger has passed in Najran after earlier alert
• Anadolu Agency: 4 airstrikes target Houthi weapons depots, military vehicles in Yemen: Report
• Anadolu Agency: Yemeni army says it carried out over 1,200 operations against Houthi positions
• Iran International: Iran's Araghchi regularly seeks talks amid efforts to avert renewed war, Germany says
• Anadolu Agency: Egypt's Sisi warns of 'catastrophic' fallout if US-Iran war resumes
• Mehr News Agency: Iranian, Egyptian FMs discuss de-escalation of tensions
• Anadolu Agency: Israeli claims about Iran's chemical weapons divide US officials: Report
• Anadolu Agency: Iran threatens to target 'enemy leaders' if its commanders are attacked, IRGC adviser says
• Anadolu Agency: Israeli defense officials surprised by Trump's announcement on ending US aid: Report

Additional sources

• Anadolu: Iran's parliament speaker says US voters rejected war