As US air cover and drone support gear up, the largest offensive of Yemen’s war targets Houthis’ stronghold in Hodeidah.
Hodeidah may soon become the graveyard of the Houthi movement. A massive 80,000-strong government force—backed by US air support and drone surveillance—is reportedly preparing to storm Yemen’s key Red Sea port in what could mark the most decisive offensive in the entire civil war.
According to Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Gulf Research Center, the scale of this operation dwarfs anything seen before in the conflict. “We might be at the stage of counting down the end of the Houthis,” he declared in a Friday interview with Emirati state media.
The port of Hodeidah, long viewed as a strategic artery for food imports and arms smuggling, has been a Houthi fortress since 2014. Previous attempts to retake it—most notably in 2018—triggered UN panic and international pressure, halting offensives in the name of humanitarian protection. But the Houthis violated the 2018 Stockholm Agreement, retaking full control by 2021.
Now, a renewed alliance of Yemeni loyalists, Gulf support, and CENTCOM coordination is preparing to change the game. Airstrikes have already begun softening Houthi defenses, reportedly eliminating several high-ranking militants in recent days.
What makes this operation different? Washington is back in the arena. General Michael Kurilla’s high-level meeting in Saudi Arabia, coupled with CENTCOM’s expanded regional presence, suggests the US is investing real firepower into ending Houthi control—perhaps as a broader message to Iran.
But the cost could be immense. Aid cuts from the US and UK, combined with a fragile civilian population inside Hodeidah, risk tipping the operation into a humanitarian nightmare. UN voices are already preparing to intervene.
Still, experts insist the Houthis have had their chance. “They chose power over peace,” says Dr. Sager. “Now they must face the consequences.”
