According to Yemeni news website Al-Masdar Online, the Houthis took control of the city after several days of heavy fighting and the withdrawal of government-aligned forces.
The report said government forces were forced to retreat south along the coast after suffering casualties, opening the way for the Houthis to advance further towards the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Mocha is a historic port city located near Bab el-Mandeb, one of the region’s most important maritime passages. Its strategic importance has increased amid the wider military confrontation involving Iran, the United States and Israel and concerns over energy shipments from Saudi Arabia.
Houthi forces are now advancing towards the town of Dhubab, which is closer to the southern entrance of the strategic waterway.
The National Resistance Forces, which had been controlling the area on behalf of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, have withdrawn from the city and moved towards the interim capital, Aden.
The latest developments come as tensions between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia have risen again, prompting renewed discussion about the role of Saudi Arabia’s military partners and regional security arrangements.
Saudi authorities say Houthi missile and drone attacks have injured 73 people and damaged several civilian and economic sites, including energy facilities. The Houthis say their attacks are a response to Saudi airstrikes in Yemen.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree accused Saudi forces of carrying out more than 120 airstrikes over the past three days in Yemen’s Marib, Al-Bayda, Hodeidah, Taiz and Al-Jawf provinces, describing the attacks as serious crimes.
More than 300 people have reportedly been killed in the latest fighting and around 18,500 displaced, while an undeclared ceasefire that had largely held for four years has come under renewed strain.
How did the Houthis advance so quickly along the western coast?
The rapid Houthi advance towards Mocha was not necessarily a sudden military operation.
Ahmed Naji, a Yemen and Middle East specialist at the International Crisis Group, said the operation had been prepared over a long period.
He said the Houthis had significantly strengthened their military capabilities in recent years, particularly their use of drones and other weapons.
Speaking to Reuters, Naji said the speed of the advance had to be understood in the context of both the Houthis’ improved military capabilities and the weaknesses of the Saudi-backed forces opposing them.
Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at King’s College London, said the rapid collapse of government defences when pressure increased simultaneously on several fronts was particularly significant.
Speaking to NBC News, Krieg said the reported capture of Mocha appeared to reflect the deep weakness and internal divisions within the anti-Houthi camp more than an extraordinary increase in Houthi strength.
He warned that the latest escalation could push Yemen back towards a full-scale war.
According to Krieg, the situation could also connect the crises around the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, potentially creating a much wider challenge for global energy security.
The sequence of Houthi advances also helps explain the speed of their progress.
Local reports said Houthi forces took control of the areas of Hays and Al-Khokha before reaching Mocha.
Hays connects southern Hodeidah with important routes towards Mocha and Bab el-Mandeb. Controlling the area therefore opened another route for the Houthis to move south along the coast.
The Houthi forces then reached Mocha, forcing government-aligned troops to withdraw.
After taking the city, Houthi forces also moved towards the Hanish Islands in the Red Sea, bringing them closer to Bab el-Mandeb.
Joe Kent, a former head of the US National Counterterrorism Center, said the rapid advance was not solely the result of Houthi military capabilities. He argued that it also showed the group had managed to secure support from tribes away from its traditional strongholds in northern Yemen.
In a post on X, Kent said the rapid Houthi advance could be only the beginning of the reaction that the United States may face in the Middle East as a result of what he described as a misguided war against Iran and US policies in the region.
He said Houthi control of important areas and strategic ports along the Red Sea coast demonstrated not only the group’s military capabilities but also its growing reach within Yemen’s tribal politics.
This is significant because most of these tribes are Sunni, while the Houthis belong to the Zaydi Shia tradition.
Yemen remains a deeply tribal society, where agreements and alliances between rival groups can be formed before or during fighting and are not always permanent.
Kent also argued that the Houthis’ position alongside Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as part of the so-called Axis of Resistance against Saudi Arabia, the United States and Israel could generate a different form of local support.
He said this did not necessarily mean Yemenis supported Iran. Instead, during periods of war, local and tribal alliances against a common enemy can become more important.
According to Kent, Yemenis have witnessed the Saudi-backed war, Israeli military operations in Gaza and US and Israeli attacks on Iran. He argued that these developments may have helped the Houthis gain support by presenting their struggle as opposition to a common adversary.
The capture of strategically important areas such as Hays and Al-Khokha therefore played a significant role in opening the route towards Mocha and Bab el-Mandeb.
Overall, the rapid Houthi advance appears to have been driven by long-term preparation, improved military capabilities, pressure on several fronts and the withdrawal of government-aligned forces.
Why is the capture of Mocha so important?
Analysts say the significance of Mocha extends beyond Yemen’s internal conflict.
Adam Baron, an expert with the Future Security programme at the Washington-based New America think tank, said the Houthis were consolidating their control over the Red Sea.
Speaking to The Washington Post, Baron said the capture of Mocha was significant because it brought an Iranian ally closer to an important maritime route at a time when Iran was seeking every possible means of putting pressure on the United States.
He described the fighting for Mocha as one of the most important military operations in the city in recent years.
Analysts argue that the Houthi advance cannot be viewed solely through the lens of the Saudi-Yemeni conflict.
Growing Houthi control near Bab el-Mandeb could add to risks for international shipping and energy supplies, particularly if tensions around the Red Sea become linked with the crisis surrounding another major maritime passage, the Strait of Hormuz.
Where is the Saudi air force?
Another question emerging from the latest phase of the conflict is whether Saudi air power can stop the Houthi advance.
Danny Citrinowicz, an Israeli intelligence and Middle East affairs expert, argued on X that Saudi Arabia’s previous military operations in Yemen showed why it would be wrong to assume that air power alone could halt the Houthis.
Saudi Arabia possesses some of the region’s most advanced aircraft and weapons, but modern military equipment does not automatically guarantee effectiveness on the battlefield.
Intelligence, accurate target identification, pilot training, operational experience, post-strike assessments and effective coordination between air and ground forces can all be decisive.
Citrinowicz also said the Houthis were no longer the same force Saudi Arabia had faced a decade ago.
Years of combat experience have helped the group improve its capabilities, including its air-defence systems, making sustained air operations against it more difficult and expensive.
He warned that Saudi Arabia could not confront the Houthis alone and would need a broader and credible international coalition if it wanted to effectively contain the group.
Such a coalition, he argued, would need to share the military, intelligence and political burden.
The issue, according to Citrinowicz, is not the quality of Saudi weapons but the scale, complexity and changing nature of the Houthi threat.
Who are the Houthis and how did the movement begin?
The Houthis are an armed movement rooted in Yemen’s minority Zaydi Shia community. The group also calls itself Ansar Allah.
The movement emerged in northern Yemen’s Saada province and was founded by Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, the son of prominent Zaydi scholar Badr al-Din al-Houthi.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Badr al-Din al-Houthi became a critic of growing Salafi influence in Yemen.
The Houthis say Saudi-backed Wahhabi thinking was expanding in Yemen at the time and that their opposition to it brought political pressure.
The movement began taking organised form in the early 1990s, when Hussein al-Houthi became involved in political activity and helped establish the opposition party Al-Haq alongside other political and religious figures.
He won a seat in parliament representing Saada province in the 1993 elections, giving the movement a political identity.
Initially, the Houthi movement focused on corruption and political injustice under the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Over time, however, it developed into a powerful political and military movement. The group takes its name from its founder, Hussein al-Houthi.
Following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Houthis adopted the slogan: God is great, death to America, death to Israel, victory to Islam.
The group also increasingly presented itself as part of a wider network of Iran-backed movements opposing Israel, the United States and Western powers, including Hamas and Hezbollah.
Hisham al-Omeisi, a Yemen specialist associated with the European Institute of Peace, said the history of the movement helps explain why the Houthis target shipping in the Red Sea.
According to al-Omeisi, the Houthis portray their actions as a struggle against imperial powers and enemies of the Muslim world, a narrative that has gained support among their followers.
How did the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis begin?
The Saudi-led military operation launched in 2015 was not the first direct military confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Ansar Allah.
On 5 November 2009, Houthi fighters crossed into the Saudi border area around Al-Khubah in Jizan during the sixth war between the Houthis and the government of former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The objective was to take control of Jabal al-Dukhan, a strategically important mountainous area near the border.
Saudi Arabia responded with airstrikes against the Houthis, targeting fighters accused of attacking Saudi border guards.
Three days later, Saudi authorities announced that they had regained control of Jabal al-Dukhan.
The fighting continued until February 2010.
After the confrontation, Saudi Arabia increasingly viewed the Houthis as a potential security threat along its southern border, laying the foundation for further tensions between the two sides.
From the Arab Spring to the Houthi takeover of Sanaa
Nationwide protests erupted in Yemen in 2011 as part of the wider Arab Spring.
The unrest eventually led President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down in February 2012 under a Gulf-brokered transition agreement.
Under the arrangement, power was transferred to his deputy, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, a national reconciliation government was formed and Saleh was granted legal immunity in return for leaving office.
After Hadi became president, the Houthis took advantage of political instability and expanded their military and political influence in northern Yemen.
By early 2014, they had emerged as a major force opposing Hadi’s government.
During this period, the Houthis also formed an informal alliance with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, their former adversary.
The alliance provided the Houthis with additional political and military support and helped them strengthen their control over state institutions.
The situation eventually culminated in the Houthi takeover of the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014.
By early 2015, the Houthis had consolidated their control over large parts of northern Yemen, including their stronghold of Saada.
President Hadi was forced to leave the country and eventually travelled to Saudi Arabia.
In March 2015, Saudi Arabia launched a military operation known as Operation Decisive Storm in support of the Yemeni government.
At the time, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was also defence minister, oversaw the military campaign.
The coalition included Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Qatar later withdrew from the coalition in 2017 following the Gulf diplomatic crisis.
Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan were also involved in the coalition.
Pakistan was initially discussed as a possible participant, but in April 2015 the Pakistani parliament passed a resolution calling for neutrality and decided against taking part in the military intervention.
The Saudi-led coalition aimed to push back the Houthis and restore President Hadi’s government.
The Houthis resisted the campaign and continue to control large parts of Yemen.
In 2017, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh changed his position and attempted to reach an understanding with Saudi Arabia. The Houthis killed him later that year.
Who supports the Houthis?
The Houthis have been influenced by Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement.
According to the US-based Combating Terrorism Center, Hezbollah had provided the Houthis with military expertise and training since 2014.
The Houthis regard Iran as an ally, partly because of their shared opposition to Saudi Arabia.
Iran has repeatedly been accused by the United States and Saudi Arabia of supplying weapons to the Houthis.
The United States and Saudi Arabia have accused Iran of providing ballistic missiles that the Houthis fired towards Riyadh, although those missiles were intercepted before reaching their targets.
Saudi Arabia has also accused Iran of supplying cruise missiles and drones used by the Houthis to attack Saudi oil facilities in 2019.
The Houthis have previously used long-range missiles to target Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Are the Houthis Iranian proxies or an independent movement?
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the Houthis of being Iranian agents and proxies in comments on Wednesday regarding their attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei rejected the accusation, saying Ansar Allah was an independent actor that made its own decisions, did not take orders from anyone and did not represent another country.
Tehran has blamed US military intervention for instability in the region and argued that peace in Yemen can be achieved through negotiations between the parties and an agreed roadmap rather than bombing or external pressure.
The United States, Saudi Arabia and their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of supplying weapons to the Houthis, while Iran denies the allegations.
How powerful are the Houthis and how much territory do they control?
Yemen’s internationally recognised government is led by the Presidential Leadership Council, which was established in April 2022 after former president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi transferred his powers.
However, a large proportion of Yemen’s population lives in areas controlled by the Houthis.
The group controls large parts of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, where it operates local administrative structures and collects taxes.
The Houthis took control of Sanaa in 2014 and have maintained de facto administrative control there.
A United Nations Security Council document, citing Houthi expert Ahmed al-Bahri, estimated that the movement had between 100,000 and 120,000 fighters and supporters around 2010.
A report by UN experts said 1,406 children recruited by the Houthis were killed in fighting in 2020, while another 562 child deaths were reported between January and May 2021.
The Houthis control a significant stretch of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline and have repeatedly targeted shipping in the area.
Hisham al-Omeisi said these attacks had strengthened the Houthis’ negotiating position with Saudi Arabia.
He said the Houthis wanted to demonstrate to Saudi Arabia that they had the ability to disrupt shipping through strategically important waterways such as Bab el-Mandeb and could use that capability to put pressure on Riyadh for greater concessions.
From war to ceasefire and negotiations
During the years of conflict, the Houthis used ballistic missiles and drones to target Saudi air bases, oil facilities and border cities.
One of the most significant attacks came in September 2019, when Saudi Aramco facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais were targeted.
At the time, Washington and Riyadh accused Iran of supporting the Houthis and providing weapons, missiles, drones and military expertise. Iran denied the allegations.
Saudi Arabia viewed the Houthis as a direct threat to its southern border and wider regional security.
The Saudi-led coalition, meanwhile, carried out extensive air operations in Yemen, prompting criticism from the United Nations and human rights organisations over their humanitarian consequences.
At one point during the conflict, the United Nations estimated that around 17 million Yemenis were facing severe food insecurity and about seven million were at risk of famine. A cholera outbreak also spread across the country.
In April 2022, a two-month UN-brokered truce began. The agreement called for an end to offensive military operations on land, at sea and in the air.
Although the truce later formally expired, large-scale fighting remained relatively limited and direct contacts and negotiations between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis began.
The region’s diplomatic landscape was also changing.
In March 2023, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced the restoration of diplomatic relations following Chinese mediation.
In September 2023, a Houthi delegation travelled to Riyadh through Omani mediation. It was the first publicly acknowledged visit by Houthi representatives to Saudi Arabia since the start of the war.
The discussions focused on a possible roadmap towards ending the conflict.
However, later disputes and renewed tensions, including disagreements involving the airports in Sanaa and Abha, demonstrated that the relative calm since 2022 and efforts towards Saudi-Houthi reconciliation remained fragile.
What could happen next after the capture of Mocha?
The capture of Mocha has brought Houthi forces closer to Bab el-Mandeb, while government-aligned forces are regrouping further south.
The next major question is whether the Houthis will continue advancing towards Dhubab and Bab el-Mandeb, and how Saudi Arabia and its allies will respond.
The latest developments increase the risk of a return to large-scale fighting in Yemen.
At the same time, a stronger Houthi presence near Bab el-Mandeb could create additional risks for international trade and energy shipments through the Red Sea.
The situation therefore extends beyond the battlefield in Yemen.
Any further Houthi advance towards Bab el-Mandeb could turn the latest escalation into a wider regional security issue, particularly if tensions around the Red Sea become linked to the broader confrontation involving Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United States.
