Yemen's internationally recognised government has seized military positions and strategic high ground east of al-Hazm, the capital of al-Jawf governorate, in the latest phase of Operation Dawn of Yemen — a campaign launched in October to reverse Houthi territorial gains dating to the 2014 seizure of Sanaa. The 1st Emergency Brigade claims to have captured weapons and ammunition depots, destroyed armoured vehicles, and inflicted casualties on Houthi fighters. The Houthis dispute these claims, saying they thwarted government advances in both al-Jawf and neighbouring Marib. Al-Jawf's geography explains its importance: it borders Saudi Arabia and abuts the Houthi-held governorates of Sanaa and Saada, making it a corridor that either side needs to control. Government gains here would threaten Houthi supply lines from the north and compress the group's territorial depth. But territorial claims in Yemen's war are notoriously fluid — ground taken today is frequently contested again within weeks. The fighting is not confined to al-Jawf. Government forces report repelling Houthi attacks near Taiz — specifically in al-Aqroudh, southeast of the city, and on the Tur al-Baha front in Lahij governorate. Meanwhile, Houthi-affiliated media reported two air strikes on an oil company facility in Bajil district in Hodeidah governorate, signalling continued strikes on economic infrastructure. Taiz is the story's centre of gravity for civilians. The Houthis do not hold the city itself but control key routes in and out, creating a de facto siege that chokes deliveries of food, fuel, and medical supplies. Reported sniper fire from surrounding hillsides compounds the danger for anyone trying to leave. Videos from Yemeni media showed what outlets described as the first shipment of medical aid arriving from Marib, though further shipments were reportedly held up by road closures. The humanitarian numbers are stark. More than 290,000 people have fled their homes since fighting escalated in August, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The UN Population Fund identified nearly 6,100 pregnant women among the recently displaced, including 600 expected to give birth within two weeks of a Friday briefing. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees warned that over 65,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Yemen face worsening conditions as services collapse and food and fuel prices spike. The pattern is familiar: both parties frame military operations as decisive, but the territorial calculus barely shifts while the humanitarian cost compounds at scale. Operation Dawn of Yemen may yield tactical positions in al-Jawf, but neither government forces nor the Houthis are close to a military resolution. Every offensive produces displacement, supply disruption, and infrastructure degradation that takes years to reverse — costs absorbed entirely by civilians who chose neither side. The extraction runs in every direction. The Houthis extract from Taiz residents through siege. Government offensives extract from al-Jawf populations through displacement. Both sides extract from the broader Yemeni population by sustaining a war economy that diverts resources from services to combat. External backers sustain the arithmetic. Without a shift in the strategic calculus — or external pressure that makes continued fighting more costly than negotiation — the trajectory is more of the same, at greater scale.
