Can the Houthis hold on to Yemen’s strategic western coast?

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that the Houthi movement’s recent gains along Yemen’s Red Sea coast have raised a new question: whether it can actually hold strategic territory near the Bab al-Mandeb strait. The article says Houthi fighters have advanced into coastal areas and taken control of the Greater and Lesser Hanish islands and Mayyun Island, but that the shift in control has come after an escalation over the past two and a half months in a front that had been largely frozen for years.

According to the report, the Houthis now face major geographic and logistical problems. The coastal zone from Hodeidah to Mocha and Bab al-Mandeb is described as too broad to secure easily, especially because open terrain makes movement easier to detect and attack from the air. Al Jazeera also cites Yemeni government-aligned forces, backed by Saudi Arabia, as mounting counterattacks in areas including al-Waziyah, al-Mudaraba, Dhubab and al-Khokha, aiming to stretch Houthi forces across multiple fronts.

The article says the Houthis have tried to reduce pressure on the coast by intensifying fighting in Marib and Lahj, including near the road approaches to Aden and the al-Anad airbase. It adds that the group may also face local resistance in areas where it lacks the deep social and security networks it built in northern Yemen.

Al Jazeera frames the situation as important beyond the battlefield because Bab al-Mandeb is a key maritime corridor for global shipping and energy flows. It notes that any threat to vessels there could trigger wider regional or international military responses.