Yemen Conflict Analysis and Developments

And with us from Sana'a is Hussein Al-Bukhaiti, writer and political analyst,

And with us from Riyadh is Salem Al-Yami, former adviser at

the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Welcome

to you both, or to all our guests. We'll start with you,

Mr. Hussein Al-Bukhaiti, writer and political analyst from

Sana'a, to assess the current situation on the ground

for the Ansar Allah Houthis in light of these developments

on the various fronts.

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. The developments on the ground are that the Yemeni army here

in Sana'a

continues to advance in areas of Taiz, with almost nothing left

except part of Taiz city, which is controlled by forces

affiliated with Saudi Arabia, even since before 2022, when

the truce was signed. Also, yesterday, the Salu area

was fully liberated, and the forces

stationed there were allowed to leave that area after

realizing there was no point in fighting in that area, through the mediation of

tribal sheikhs and also the people

of that area who are fighters with the Yemeni army, and so it was opened

the way and allow those forces or individuals

to leave the Al-Silw area. So,

in fact, the field is now under complete control

of Sanaa forces. And certainly, there is news that they

are spreading.

On what basis do you say that they are

Saudi Arabia or follow the so-called—

Mr. al-Bukhaiti, on what basis do you say the situation is under

control by the Sanaa authorities, when all

the reports and what the government forces say is that

they have advanced on a number of fronts and taken control of the mountains of Kahbub

on the western coast, at Bab al-Mandab and Dhubab, and are now heading toward

Mokha.

By God, my dear sister, these reports are the same reports that previously said

they had controlled Mokha and the western coast, despite the advance of

Sanaa forces into those areas and their liberation during the past two or three

weeks. Also, what they say is, as I heard, I think

the correspondent said forces affiliated with the so-called

legitimacy are heading toward Mokha and Al-Khokha. All this, my dear sister...

Just lies. We remember two days ago they said they had taken control of

Mokha and taken control

of Bab al-Mandab and were advancing toward al-Khawkhah, and now they are repeating the very same news,

which proves it is merely a war,

they are trying to wage a media war and spread false news, and it is not possible

that they have advanced into those areas, because if they had advanced into them,

it would have been three or four days ago, as they said. So, my dear sister, what is actually happening now

is that areas of Taiz and around the city of Taiz are being liberated, and the

Yemeni army is also, at the same time, targeting Saudi territory, as it targeted

King Khalid Airport in Riyadh with two strikes today. Therefore, we should not take

their reports as fact. The reality is lies.

Dr. Ahmed al-Jabri is our guest again, but now we go to

Mr. Hussein al-Bukhaiti again, and let us discuss this

escalation toward Saudi Arabia.

Why this escalation and these attacks on sites,

including civilian sites, Mr. al-Bukhaiti?

My dear sister, we cannot call it an escalation, rather it is a response to escalation

Saudi Arabia and an attempted attack days ago in the area of

Dhubab, that attack was certainly repelled, and also

the continued targeting of civilian areas in

Yemen, the latest of which was the targeting in Hajjah and also the targeting

in the Yarim area, which led to the martyrdom

and injury of many Yemeni citizens.

Therefore, these operations, which expanded into Saudi Arabia, had been

warned of, that any Saudi escalation and any operations against

Yemen would be met by Yemen, which would respond and expand its targets. This

is what actually happened, by expanding the targets and declaring an air ban over

Saudi Arabia and warning airlines. In fact, Brigadier Saree warned

the experts, employees, and engineers working for

Aramco, as well as all shipping companies that use Saudi

airspace or travel to and from Saudi airports.

Therefore, we are here, and they in Sanaa always warn before any

targeting of these areas takes place. Therefore, my dear sister, also speak

I only have two points for the guest, Salem, when he speaks of

those who seized power and also sings the praises of legitimacy.

Let us ask, where was legitimacy in Syria? They were supporting those terrorist groups.

Yet when he says they are playing with fire and targeting

civilian sites, it is good that the guest from

Saudi Arabia acknowledges there are civilian sites. What about 300,000 airstrikes on Yemen?

Today, my dear sister, is the tenth anniversary of the targeting of the

funeral hall, or the Grand Hall, in Sanaa, which led to the killing and injury of nearly

one thousand Yemeni civilians. Saudi Arabia tried,

when it carried out two strikes five minutes or six minutes apart,

to kill a larger number, but, I mean...

They also later tried to accuse the Sanaa

authorities, saying it was caused by the launch of a ballistic missile

that failed and struck the hall. Three hundred thousand airstrikes and the killing of civilians

and targeting of civilians. But the difference between Sanaa and Riyadh is that Sanaa

always announces that the next phase is oil and has warned

And airlines have also warned of this, so any

consequences, or any civilians who may

be killed, God forbid, in any future operations, who bears responsibility for that?

Saudi Arabia, because it did not first stop its airstrikes and attack on Yemen,

and because it did not comply with Yemen's declaration to close

its airspace.