Operation Decisive Storm

 The Saudi Intervention

In March 2015, the Houthi advance seemed unstoppable. They were moving south toward Aden. If they captured the entire country, the Saudis feared, Yemen would become a base for Iranian influence directly on their border.

On March 26, 2015, Saudi Arabia launched Operation Decisive Storm.

A coalition of nine Arab states—led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, supported logistically by the US, UK, and France—launched an intensive bombing campaign against Houthi-held territory. The stated goal was to "restore the legitimate government of President Hadi."

What followed was one of the most destructive conflicts in recent history.

The aerial campaign was relentless. Thousands of airstrikes targeted Houthi positions, but also hit civilian infrastructure—hospitals, schools, water treatment facilities, power plants. Over the next years, the bombing would kill thousands of civilians.

The ground campaign saw the coalition successfully push Houthis out of southern cities and secure large swaths of territory. But in the northern highlands, the Houthis dug in, and despite years of bombing, they remained in control.

The Stalemate and the Humanitarian Crisis

By 2020, the conflict had settled into a stalemate. The Houthis controlled the capital and the northern highlands. The coalition-backed government held the south and east. Neither side was strong enough to defeat the other.

But while the military campaign raged, something more devastating was happening: the collapse of civil society.

Yemen's healthcare system fell apart. Hospitals ran out of medicine and fuel. Disease outbreaks that should have been controllable—cholera, dengue fever, malaria—became massive epidemics.

The economy imploded. Yemen's currency lost 85% of its value. Prices for food and fuel skyrocketed. By 2022, the UN estimated that 22.3 million Yemenis—nearly 80% of the population—needed humanitarian assistance just to survive.

A famine emerged. Not because there was no food produced anywhere on earth, but because Yemeni people couldn't afford to buy it. The World Food Program, which had been providing emergency food assistance to millions, had to scale back operations due to lack of funding.

Eighteen million children were at risk of acute malnutrition. Maternal mortality rates skyrocketed because pregnant women couldn't access basic medical care.