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News February 17, 2025 02:58 MIN YIF III Launches in Amman with a Strong Call for a Peaceful and Stable Yemen Amid Regional Upheaval Amman, Jordan - Over 300 political representatives, policymakers, peace mediators, civil society members, and key figures from the international community gathered in Amman on Sunday to launch the third Yemen International Forum (YIF). Amidst major political shifts and geopolitical fragmentation affecting Yemen and the region in the aftermath of October 7, YIF III brings together invested parties to engage in constructive dialogue for a stable and secure Yemen. “The security of the region is contingent on the security of Yemen,” said Yemen’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Shayea Al-Zindani, in his opening remarks, urging more regional cooperation and engagement to end the war and achieve peace in Yemen. Making the stakes clear, Al-Zindani noted that “such efforts are consistently undermined… Continue reading Main Publications February 16, 2025 11:36 MIN Yemen International Forum III Background Dossier The Yemen International Forum (YIF) is the largest and most inclusive platform for policy dialogues related to Yemen's conflict and ongoing peace process. Unique in its approach, it serves as a continuous civil society-led peace initiative, providing a space for Yemeni, regional, and international engagement aimed at overcoming current crises and paving the way to a peaceful, prosperous, and just Yemen. Since its launch in 2022, the YIF has convened over 500 political representatives, policymakers, peace mediators, experts, and civil society representatives and contributed to multi-thematic peace initiatives, ranging from political and civic engagement to transitional justice, economic deescalation, and the environment-conflict nexus. As part of the YIF, consultations with Yemeni experts and stakeholders and extensive regional and international shuttle… Continue reading Main Publications February 5, 2025 27:58 MIN Houthi Detentions Leave Stark Choices for Aid Sector By Casey Coombs, and Ned Whalley On January 23, the Houthi group (Ansar Allah) detained seven UN staff members working in Sana’a. In response, the UN halted the movement of all staff working in Houthi-controlled territories as Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the UN workers’ immediate release. But the incident is just the latest in a string of disappearances and detentions of UN, NGO, and civil society staff in Yemen, who are often held without charge and denied contact with lawyers or family members. In the early summer of 2024, the Houthis began to forcibly disappear dozens of Yemeni civil society organization (CSO) and non-governmental organization (NGO) workers and UN staff. These detentions were soon accompanied by unsubstantiated charges of espionage and coerced televised confessions. The… Continue reading Yemen Review section February 4, 2025 07:42 MIN October-December 2024 The Houthi-Israel Confrontation By Abdulghani Al-Iryani For over a year now, the Houthi group (Ansar Allah) kept the world staring in amazement as they defied all odds and challenged the US, Britain, and a host of Western navies as they enforced a debilitating siege on the Israeli port of Eilat. With the announcement of a ceasefire in Gaza, the Houthis have pledged to continue targeting Israeli vessels until all phases of the deal are complete, and the group’s undiminished capabilities provide a constant threat of new attacks. Houthi missile and drone attacks on Israel caused little material damage and minimal casualties, but their economic and psychological impact is significant. The Houthis struck targets deep into Israeli territory – missiles and one-way drones have hit Tel Aviv,… Continue reading Yemen Review section February 4, 2025 03:44 MIN October-December 2024 An Unlikely Syrian Scenario in Yemen By Maysaa Shuja Al-Deen The rapid and unexpected advance of opposition forces in Syria in late 2024, culminating in the overthrow of the Assad regime, has raised hopes in the anti-Houthi camp that a similar scenario could unfold in Yemen and deal another significant blow to the Iran-led Axis of Resistance. Yemenis see several parallels between their situation and that of Syria. Both the Houthis and the Assad regime were primary belligerents in a devastating civil war. Both were major allies of Iran and other Iranian-backed regional actors, such as Hezbollah. From their respective capitals, Sana’a and Damascus, both adopted a strategy that relied on specific social groups to govern and fight while excluding or marginalizing other social and political factions. However, despite these… Continue reading Analysis February 4, 2025 05:56 MIN October-December 2024 Navigating Yemen’s Ongoing Quest for Peace: Key Challenges and Prospects for 2025 By Alexandra Nikopoulou A year of war across the Middle East has profoundly reshaped the region, shifting power dynamics and redrawing the lines of local conflicts. For Yemen, the Gaza war and its repercussions have served as an intensifier to the conflict, driving peace to a stalemate and exacerbating local divisions. The end of 2024 saw an increase in fighting on several fronts, a further escalation in Houthi-Israeli tensions, and renewed hope for a Houthi retreat within the anti-Houthi camp. International efforts toward a peace settlement continued, with the process following a familiar yet flawed approach in search of a still-elusive breakthrough. In the past three months, little has changed regarding the international community’s approach to achieving peace in Yemen. The Presidential Leadership… Continue reading Analysis February 4, 2025 05:07 MIN October-December 2024 Will Al-Qaeda Change Tack After the Jihadist Victory in Syria? By Abdelrazzaq al-Jamal The sudden collapse of the Assad regime in Syria and rise to power of Islamists marks a pivotal turning point in the regional landscape. The new government is headed by the former rebel group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, previously known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani. Before forming HTS, Al-Sharaa was a leading Al-Qaeda commander in Syria who had also fought in Iraq alongside radical figures such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. With his transformation into Syria’s head of state, he represents a new model of post-Al-Qaeda Islamism and raises fundamental questions about the group’s future direction. HTS’ unexpected success in Syria, after spending years holed up in the northern province of Idlib,… Continue reading Analysis February 4, 2025 10:46 MIN October-December 2024 How Yemeni Religious Groups Recruit Fighters By Hussam Radman This article was originally published by the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI). Conflict in Yemen over the past two decades, including the war since 2015, has been dominated by parties with ideologies rooted in religion. Religious ideologies play a key role in the policies adopted by these movements toward the recruitment of fighters into their ranks. There are four main groups in question: the Sunni Islamist Islah party, the Zaidi Shia Houthi movement, the Salafi jihadists of Al-Qaeda, and government-allied Salafis fighting in paramilitary groups backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These four currents have flourished in Yemen for decades, initially influenced by the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the Afghanistan jihad in the Eighties. Yemen… Continue reading Yemen Review section February 4, 2025 09:21 MIN October-December 2024 Military and Security — The Yemen Review, October-December 2024 By William Clough The final months of 2024 – bookended by the assassination of Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in late September and the announcement of a Gaza ceasefire in January 2025 – were undoubtedly a period of redefinition for Houthi military leadership, as the group once again shifted its strategy in targeting Israel, the United States, and their strategic interests in the Red Sea. While Houthi missile and drone barrages continued throughout the quarter, attacks shifted away from commercial shipping to focus instead on military bases and infrastructure within Israel itself. The decision to target Israel is not new – the Houthis made headlines in July after a drone crashed into a residential apartment near the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. Since… Continue reading Yemen Review section February 4, 2025 22:54 MIN October-December 2024 The Economy — The Yemen Review, October-December 2024 By Wadhah Al-Awlaqi, and Aylin Junga Yemen is experiencing a severe economic downturn as it tries to navigate long-term fiscal challenges. A World Bank report on Fiscal Vulnerabilities in Low-Income Countries released in late November highlighted Yemen’s dire fiscal situation as among the worst in the world. The World Bank’s Yemen Monitor for Spring 2024 noted that the current crisis is caused by plummeting oil and customs revenues, which had long been the backbone of Yemen’s economy. The government has also forcefully cut down fiscal expenditures, limiting the provision of essential services and jeopardizing sustainable economic development and growth. Despite attempts to address these challenges by centralizing financial control, the government’s fiscal health remains precarious. Many employees have received their salaries late. Limited Saudi support, tainted… Continue reading Analysis February 4, 2025 09:13 MIN October-December 2024 A Year in Patriarchy: Key Setbacks in Yemeni Women’s Rights in 2024 By Bilqees Al-Lahbi, Rim Mugahed, and Lara Uhlenhaut Away from the Red Sea crisis that dominated the headlines of 2024, the space for female political and social actors in Yemen has continued to shrink, largely unchecked. Today, the distinction between the repression in areas controlled by the Houthis and those under the internationally recognized government is becoming increasingly blurred. In Houthi-controlled areas, a campaign of terrifying arrests of civil society actors that started last June and continues to date has seen various female activists and peace workers targeted, some of whom are languishing in prisons incommunicado under dire conditions. In areas under government control, polarization and conflict among the various political factions are primarily to blame for undermining women’s rights. Political partisanship and a policy of divide and… Continue reading Analysis February 4, 2025 05:36 MIN October-December 2024 Israel’s Calculations in Responding to the Houthis By Salah Ali Salah Tit-for-tat operations have seen a surge in missile and drone attacks launched by the Houthis toward Israel as part of what the group calls the fifth phase of escalation in support of Gaza. The conflict has cast a wide net over both parties and continues to evolve gradually. Israel has carried out retaliatory airstrikes inside Yemen in response to Houthi attacks. Yet the efficacy of their airstrikes thus far has failed to have any tangible impact, as the Houthis have gained considerable experience in withstanding aerial targeting in recent years. The nature of Israeli targets in Yemen also differs significantly from those struck by the United States and the United Kingdom. While US and UK strikes have predominantly focused on… Continue reading