Updated

Houthi fighters have intensified their offensive against Saudi-backed government-held areas in Yemen, advancing on the strategic cities of Marib and Taiz and seizing additional territory along the Red Sea coastline. The escalation marks a significant development in Yemen's protracted civil war, threatening to unravel a period of relative calm and raising fresh questions about what could realistically halt the Iran-backed group's momentum. A new analysis further reveals that the Houthis have built an expanding war economy, restructuring Yemen's commercial sector and securing billions of dollars in revenue even as the country endures a deepening humanitarian crisis. Analysts say this financial base, combined with territorial gains, is entrenching Houthi control and complicating efforts by the internationally recognized government and its allies to reverse the group's advances.