Analysis of Yemen Conflict Developments

Joining us from Sana'a to discuss these developments is the writer

Hussein al-Bukhaiti. Welcome, Mr. Hussein.

What is your comment on reports that

a senior military official in the forces affiliated with

the Houthi Ansar Allah group was targeted in recent hours?

There is no news, my dear brother. These reports are

false, as they claim there has been progress, as

the guest from Saudi Arabia said, there has been

major progress and that the battle will be decided in Sana'a, and Sana'a is

the target. How can Sana'a be the target when the Yemeni army here

in Sana'a has

advanced and almost controlled 70 percent of

the western coast? The area is not only Hays, my brother, as

you said. The city of Hays has been liberated, as has

the city of Al-Khawkhah, the last two areas to the, to the

south of Hodeidah that were still under the control of

Saudi-affiliated forces. There has been progress, and, my dear brother, Mokha was also

liberated in recent hours. And they have admitted

Sources affiliated with Tariq Saleh said that there was

betrayal, that someone had sold them out, and that they always talk about these

matters. So, my dear brother, the situation is now very

different.

There is no longer any progress, not even an inch.

Certainly, for example, in Al-Jawf Governorate, Al-Jawf Governorate,

the desert governorate, most populated areas and vital areas

controlled by the Yemeni army are in western Al-Jawf Governorate. The rest of Al-Jawf is

شبه desert. I mean, as I can see the footage now,

Saudi forces' pickup trucks and armored vehicles are moving through

the desert. This is normal, brother. Yet when the Saudi forces

began their operations, I will speak about Al-Bayda,

saying that they had advanced in eastern Al-Jawf.

بالحديث عن أنهم تقدموا في شرق الجوف.

My dear brother, in the past few hours, control was taken of

Qana Camp, which was the last stronghold of the forces

affiliated with Saudi Arabia since 2022,

Meaning, before the truce, they controlled it. Now they've lost even what they were

controlling.

before the 2022 truce, and all those groups fled to

the Church District in Marib. Speaking of which,

my dear brother, what about Al-Bayda? The same thing keeps happening.

They, they, they spread rumors, my dear brother, and spread lies.

They try to convince Saudi Arabia that they still have control and

still hold the reins of the initiative so that

Saudi support will continue. If they told the truth, Saudi Arabia would

begin to realize there is no use in these forces affiliated with it

in… in… in Yemen.

And I remember, my dear brother, two days ago I was a guest

on your program, and one of the guests, apparently from Riyadh, was saying

the same thing, that they are advancing on the western coast.

And I said verbatim that I am certain you will

host me two days later to talk about Mokha and how

Sanaa has become on the verge of being taken over.

But now they control Mokha and are advancing toward

Dhubab and Bab al-Mandab.

The goal of this confrontation is to lift the siege. What is the next plan now?

What are the forces seeking to do regarding Bab al-Mandab?

Yes, my dear brother, as I said, the goal, and what Sayyid Abdul-Malik also spoke of, is to lift the siege

on Yemen and implement the so-called roadmap.

Now, I think, and this is my personal opinion, that the goal is no longer that.

The goal is now greater.

Yemen's demands today differ from Yemen's demands yesterday, and they differ from Yemen's demands

when it began its blockade and targeting of Saudi Arabia.

After Saudi Arabia broke the truce and targeted Sana'a Airport

two months ago. We cannot return to the roadmap now.

We cannot return to negotiations with Saudi Arabia or its affiliated forces.

Now, I am certain, I tell you, that there is no negotiation now,

neither above nor below the table, and Yemen's demands will

be the liberation of all Yemeni land. Saudi Arabia must withdraw

All its forces or Saudi forces, and stop

any support for any militias and groups they call legitimate.

Their legitimacy is none of our concern. Stop any financial, military

or logistical, even media support or incitement against Yemen, and stop that.

And what has Sana'a offered?

It has offered, it has always offered

the Saudi-affiliated parties, even during

the battles and the advance of Sana'a's forces, Tariq Saleh was offered,

"We are prepared to sit down together, but you must—"

You can keep your weapons, keep the areas you're in,

but don't be Saudi Arabia's tool. Let us fight Saudi Arabia face

to face.

My dear brother, as for Bab al-Mandab, many say the goal is

to control Bab al-Mandab to control the Red Sea.

Yemen, since 2023, and since

it closed the Red Sea to the Zionist entity because of

its aggression and genocide in Gaza. Yemen controls the sea

the Red Sea with missiles and drones, controlling Bab

al-Mandab with missiles and drones, controlling the

Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea with the same aircraft and drones, and they

were targeting all Israeli ships

and British ships, as well as U.S. military ships. Therefore, we do not

need to be in Bab al-Mandab in order to control it.

But what is the goal of this advance operation? The goal now is to liberate Yemen,

and Bab al-Mandab will certainly be one of the or

the first routes for doing so.

Regarding Al-Bayda, there has been no progress, my dear brother, and what

they are publishing is lies. Therefore, Sana'a will now continue

its advance operations. Whoever does not take up arms against Sana'a, from any

faction or group, Sana'a is ready to engage in dialogue with them.

And whoever takes up arms will

meet the fate

of Tariq Saleh, and the blockade of Saudi Arabia will continue, as will

the targeting of Saudi Arabia unless it completely withdraws its hand from Yemen.

Mr. Hussein, what is your response to UN reports that indicate that

the escalation of the confrontation has worsened

the conditions of civilians and displaced people whose numbers are increasing

with these advances on the battlefield in

the fighting between the two sides.

Dear brother, the one who worsened the situation is the one who declared war on Yemen, and that is Saudi Arabia

on March 26, 2015, and it is the one that imposed

the blockade on Yemen, and it is the one that launched more than 300,000 airstrikes on

Yemen, and it is the one that directly killed in airstrikes 18,000 Yemeni civilians, most of them

women and children. The blockade on Yemen also

affected the Yemeni people more than the direct bombing did.

More than 400,000 Yemeni civilians died

because of the blockade, because they were unable to travel abroad for treatment

due to food shortages.

The United Nations itself, the same UN that is now saying that

Yemen is the largest

man-made humanitarian disaster, has put Saudi Arabia on

the list of countries that kill children. So, brother

Dear, those causing that are the ones who came

with the support of forces loyal

to Saudi Arabia in these areas. They are the ones threatening Yemen, and they are the ones

occupying Yemen. Of course, there may be civilian

casualties, but those

responsible are the ones who used Hays as a launch point for the attack on Sanaa

as well as Al-Khawkhah and Mokha, and who used these sites

to receive weapons and Saudi support

to fight Yemen. But certainly, Sanaa, my dear, so far,

when

before entering Mokha, it left the road south of Mokha

open. President Al-Mashat here in Sanaa issued a general amnesty

for

all those deceived in those forces, saying that whoever hands over

his weapon will be safe. They left the road

south of Mokha open, and many vehicles and forces

loyal to Tareq Saleh withdrew, and this proves

the moral values upheld by Sanaa, which does not want

bloodshed. Imagine, 2,500 square kilometers from Hays

to Al-Khawkhah to Mokha being liberated.

Within hours. The road and the advance now will

be toward Dhubab, then Bab al-Mandab. And there is also

a party in Marib. Sana'a offered al-Arada in Marib that he must

stop receiving Saudi support, and that Marib must cease to be

a launch point for attacks on Yemen and a threat to Yemen's sovereignty.

They refused that. So, my dear brother, if Marib does not stop,

I am certain that Marib will be next, and if they do not turn

their weapons on Sana'a and leave Sana'a, as Sana'a demanded,

to fight Saudi Arabia and not stab us in the back, that is a good thing, and

dialogue and negotiations will take place with them. If they continue receiving support from

Saudi Arabia and being a launch point for attacks on any area in Yemen,

then al-Arada's fate will be that of Tariq Saleh, who

left.

Yes.

And in the sector