Blockade of Yemen

In November 2017, after a Houthi missile heading towards King Khalid International Airport was intercepted,[1] the Saudi-led military coalition stated it would close all sea land and air ports to Yemen,[2] but shortly began reopening them after criticism from the United Nations and over 20 aid groups[3] and some humanitarian supplies were allowed into the country.

[6][7] The World Health Organization announced in 2017, that the number of suspected persons with cholera in Yemen reached approximately 500,000 people.

[10][11] A military intervention was launched by Saudi Arabia in March 2015, which was leading a coalition of nine countries from the Middle East and Africa, in order to influence the outcome of the Yemeni civil war in favor of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi’s government.

[12] The intervention code-named "Operation Decisive Storm" included a bombing campaign and subsequently saw a naval blockade and likewise deploying ground forces in Yemen.

[23] According to The Guardian, The blockade of Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition has caused medical supplies, food, and fuel to run low, doctors and aid organizations said.

[30][31] However, in mid-2016 and amid escalating, international concerns regarding some of the strategic initiatives undertaken by the Saudi Arabian military in the conflict, the U.S. pulled back significantly on its participation in this joint planning cell, reducing its staff commitment to only five US workers.

The U.S. dispatched warships in the region after Houthi missiles targeted the UAE-operated HSV-2 Swift, which some critics interpreted as the U.S. reinforcing the coalition blockade.

[39] According to a 2021 article in The Washington Post, the end of the United States support for the Saudi-led blockade against Yemen could create hope for millions of Yemenis.

[41] According to this report, the U.S. role in the Yemen war moves beyond supplying training and intelligence support and sales of billions of dollars of weaponry to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, America's largest weapons buyers.

The British government has deployed RAF personnel to work as engineers, and to train Saudi pilots and targeteers – while an even larger role is played by BAE Systems, Britain’s biggest arms company, which the government has subcontracted to provide weapons, maintenance and engineers inside Saudi Arabia.

[51] The Saudi Arabian-led coalition blocked all sea, land and air borders of Yemen after Ansar Allah's missile attack on Riyadh on 6 November 2017, and did not allow international aid to be delivered to Yemeni people.

[36] Abdul-Malik al-Houthi as the leader of Yemen's Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement has vowed retaliatory attacks in reaction to the blockade.

[57] It is said that neither the international law of contraband nor the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216 of 14 April 2015 cover the extensive enforcement measures.