It’s Time to End the Houthi Stranglehold over Humanitarian Aid

Lost in the political fallout over “Signalgate” is the fact that the Houthis in Yemen continue to pose a threat to international shipping, the United States, and regional states. Houthi attacks on Israel might win headlines in the West, but the Iran-coopted proxy has struck at civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates more than 1,000 times combined.

President Donald Trump’s military actions against Houthi leaders and military structure are warranted, but striking at military supplies is simply Whac-A-Mole unless the U.S. military simultaneously dries up the Houthis’ resupply. This requires blocking three streams: Shutting Sana’a international airport, closing the Port of al-Hudaydah [Hodeidah], and stopping weapons flows from the Sultanate of Oman.

The problem is not only weaponry, however; the Houthis also profit from pilfered humanitarian aid. This is why Hudaydah is so important. By controlling the main entry point for humanitarian assistance, the Houthis can siphon off assistance to sell it, provide it to their supporters, and weaponize its denial to regions the Houthis deem politically disloyal. When the United Arab Emirates and other anti-Houthi forces planned to seize Hudaydah in 2018 to end this dynamic, the Houthis activated their propaganda network among Western progressive and human rights organizations to argue that any disruption of port operations, even for a week, would be too much for the Yemeni people to bear. Simultaneously, Iranian special operators targeted cargo ships and tankers off the Emirati coast in the Gulf of Oman to signal to Abu Dhabi that it would pay a more direct price for taking on the Houthis. The subsequent Stockholm Agreement was a fig leaf that purported to create an inspection regime, stop weapons smuggling, and prevent Houthi control over humanitarian aid—but it only normalized the status quo.

Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio should use their leverage over the United Nations to demand that all humanitarian deliveries to Yemen henceforth go through ports like Aden and Mukalla, controlled by the Southern Transitional Council and the Internationally Recognized Government of Yemen. For Houthis or others to complain that supplies delivered via Aden would not reach Sana’a or other Houthi-occupied cities is simply projection, as the Houthis disrupt delivery of assistance to areas outside their own control. If the Houthis then want further supply, they should allow international groups free access to transport it across lines of control. To trust the Houthis to deliver food, medicine, or other goods is only to strengthen the Houthis as they abuse Yemenis under their control.

Such a shift also will require the United Nations to end its willingness to act as the Houthis’ hostage. The United Nations should transfer all its offices and personnel stationed in Yemen to Aden or other areas controlled by the Internationally Recognized Government. Continued Houthi hostage-taking of U.N. officials and employees, both foreign and local, makes this a no-brainer. For U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, the decision should be easy: He should tell employees they have two weeks to relocate, or they will lose any status and protection they have with the United Nations.

For four years, the Biden administration ignored the Houthi threat or simply wished it would go away. Although Trump sanctioned the Houthis during his first term, his lack of focus opened space for the United Nations to embrace symbolism over effectiveness and run interference for the Houthis. There can be no substitute, however, for a comprehensive Houthi strategy. This requires shutting the Port of Hudaydah immediately and putting all inspections in the hands of the Southern Transitional Council and its partners. No more delay.