Houthis

The Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia could turn Yemen’s proxy war into a wider regional conflagration, as the US-Iran confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz threatens to merge with escalating tensions across the Red Sea and Gulf.

Between December 2023 and early 2024, container shipping across the Red Sea decreased by 90%. Large shipping companies like Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, and MSC diverted their ships around the Cape of Good Hope, resulting in an additional 14 days and more than $1 million in fuel expenses per trip.

Basically, Somaliland is a de facto nation with democracy, functional government and relative stability with a developing economy, which is not recognised as a 'country' by the UN yet. Somalia is none of the above, but is still a 'country' recognised by the UN.

It is notable here that Yemen lies over 2000 km away from Israel, and the two nations are separated by the entire span of Saudi Arabia’s western coast along the Red Sea. The land distance even includes the breadth of Jordan after the Saudi mainland, still the Houthis have been trying to hit Israel with ballistic missiles for over a year. 

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus narrowly escaped an aerial bombardment at Sanaa International Airport in Yemen on Thursday, which resulted in the deaths of at least two people.