Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree announced that Yemeni forces struck an Aramco facility in Riyadh with ballistic missiles and drones, stating the operation achieved its objective and set fires at the targeted sites [1][2]. An AFP journalist in Riyadh saw flames and smoke rising from an oil facility south of the capital [4][7][11]. Aramco did not immediately comment on the strike [9]. Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki dismissed the Houthi assertions as misleading, saying the group was seeking fictitious victories to divert attention from its losses in Taiz and growing popular anger over its conduct and foreign ties [2][14].
Saree framed the strike as retaliation for what he said were 60 Saudi airstrikes on Sanaa and other areas in 24 hours, bringing the total, by his count, to 1,410 since the escalation began (Anadolu Agency put the figure at 1,420), and vowed that the Houthis would answer "blockade with blockade, and escalation with escalation" [1][2][9]. Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported 26 Saudi strikes on Sanaa [5][10]. The Houthi-run Sanaa health ministry said 72 people had been killed and 125 wounded in Saudi attacks since the escalation began [5][30]. An anonymous Sanaa resident told Xinhua the blasts "felt like an earthquake" and that children woke terrified [3]. Yemen expert Yasmeen Al-Eryani of the Sanaa Center noted that several of the mountains named in Houthi statements on the targets hit in Sanaa housed military installations [13].
Yemeni government forces aligned with the internationally recognized government reported their own operations against Houthi positions. Spokesman Majid al-Nazili announced 257 airstrikes targeting Houthi reinforcements and the neutralization of at least 700 Houthi fighters [1], and later reported 71 operations across Taiz province destroying hostile vehicles and stripping militia formations of fighting capacity [15]. Saudi authorities reported a Houthi projectile damaged a school in Najran, and Saudi Civil Defense denounced strikes on a mosque in Asir and a school in Najran [4][17]. A Taiz human rights center reported five civilians killed and 21 injured, including a two-week-old infant, from Houthi shelling and sniping in Taiz districts [31].
Saudi Arabia is preparing an offensive against the Houthis aimed at reversing their gains around the Bab al-Mandeb strait, expected within weeks and led on the ground by up to 100,000 Yemeni troops with Saudi air support, according to regional and Western officials [18][25]. Former US ambassador Michael Ratney said the operation should be limited to restoring the pre-Houthi status quo and normal maritime traffic, and that its scope may be far less sweeping than the 2015 Saudi-led intervention [18][20][25]. Analyst Mohammed Albasha said many anti-Houthi forces are not organized or prepared for the sustained offensive needed to push back a disciplined Houthi military [18]. Saudi analyst Ali Shihabi said the priority so far has been defending positions but the Saudis will go on the offensive, with success depending on the quality of local forces [18][20]. Allied support includes US intelligence and advisers, Pakistani equipment and 30,000-40,000 troops for Saudi border defense, Turkish drones, and French defensive systems for Yanbu [18].
Washington has rebuffed Saudi appeals for direct strikes even as it supplies intelligence and advisers to support Saudi air operations [4][18]. President Trump's top cabinet members reportedly met secretly at Camp David, chaired by Vice President Vance, to discuss Yemen and the Iran war [5][10]. The US has reportedly ordered thousands more troops and a carrier group to the Gulf, maintained a naval counter-blockade of Iranian ports, and proposed then abandoned a 20 percent transit fee on cargoes passing through the Strait of Hormuz while keeping the naval blockade in place [16][33].
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that two "violating" tankers attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz were struck and stopped, with four others turning back, describing the actions as enforcement against vessels misled by CENTCOM [29]. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called the proposed US transit fee an act of piracy [33]. Iran has largely blockaded the strait since the war began, and the US imposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports in response [6]. Iran denied association with the Houthis and Iraqi militia and advised political rather than kinetic engagement, according to Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar [23].
The maritime crisis has driven war-risk insurance premiums to between 3 and 10 percent of hull value, up from 0.25 percent pre-war, according to Marsh's global head of marine Marcus Baker [28]. IMO secretary general Arsenio Dominguez called the high cost of maritime insurance a matter of great concern, while the International Union of Marine Insurers said insurance is part of the solution, not the problem, and that the problems are kinetic and legal [28]. Chinese insurer China Pacific Insurance advised commercial shipping companies to suspend transiting the strait until a safe corridor emerges [35]. Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen said it has been sailing through the strait at about 30 percent faster than normal as part of its cost and safety response [37]. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offered Italian naval units for a defensive, post-hostilities mission to restore freedom of navigation [38].
Governments and analysts trace the Hormuz disruption directly into fuel prices and inflation. Brazilian analyst Olívia Flôres de Brás said Brent projections shifted from US$75-85 toward US$85-95, and IBGE IPCA manager Fernando Gonçalves said international supply restrictions had already shown up in consumer prices [36]. African Energy Chamber president NJ Ayuk said "l'Afrique paie une nouvelle fois le prix d'une crise qu'elle n'a pas créée" (Africa is once again paying the price of a crisis it did not create), with impacts extending to refined fuels, gas, transport, insurance and fertilisers [40]. Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed urged citizens to use fuel carefully, and Kenya's Energy Minister Opiyo Wandayi met importers to draw up an emergency supply plan [34]. The G7 agreed to release up to 100 million barrels of diesel and crude from reserves over four months [6]. German Green Bundestag member Michael Kellner called the release "eine politische Dummheit" (a political stupidity), saying "Der Wahlkampf von Trump ist kein Notfall" (Trump's election campaign is not an emergency) [6].
The World Food Programme warns that three-quarters of Yemen's population cannot meet basic food needs [4][5][7][10]. UN Yemen envoy Hans Grundberg said Taiz is receiving the majority of recently displaced Yemenis and expressed concern over casualties, infrastructure damage and road closures preventing residents from fleeing [21]. The WFP said more than 150,000 people had been displaced in recent weeks [27]. Roughly two million Nepali migrant workers in the Gulf are under contingency planning, with the Nepal Embassy in the UAE receiving more than 200 calls per day and Foreign Minister Balananda Sharma saying preparations include possible repatriation by sea via Oman and India [39].
Editorial and diplomatic voices warn that military momentum is crowding out negotiation. Pakistan's Dawn newspaper called on Muslim and Arab states to restore the Saudi-Houthi ceasefire with mutual commitments on attacks and the Bab al-Mandeb, and urged Trump to reopen dialogue with Tehran [16]. The Makkah Defence Alliance's Strategic Political Defence Committee will hold an emergency meeting in Riyadh next week focused on Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, Dar said [23]. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted ballistic missiles and drones aimed at southern Saudi Arabia and accused the Houthis of a drone attack on an electricity-distribution station in Medina [27]. Yemeni government forces said they conducted strikes against Houthi vital targets in Sanaa and Saada [3][24]. The planned Saudi-led offensive is expected within weeks [18].