Houthis Seize Hanish Islands and Tighten Control Over a Vital Red Sea Chokepoint

Yemen's Houthi rebels have seized Greater and Lesser Hanish in the Red Sea, about 160km north of the Bab al-Mandab strait that connects the Red Sea to the open ocean, according to reporting by The Guardian.

The seizure followed the capture of the port of Mokha and Perim island in the strait. Hundreds of government-allied forces withdrew before the Hanish archipelago fell, Euronews reported. Greater and Lesser Hanish were the last two islands in the strait outside Houthi control, as reported by The Times of Israel.

The advance down the coast took days. On September 10, Reuters reported the Houthis were pushing south toward Dhubab on the Red Sea coast toward the strait. By September 11, they had reached the coastal towns of Mocha and Dhubab and the islands of Perim and Hanish, according to Reuters. Al Jazeera reported the Houthis now command the entire Yemeni coast and have targeted Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.

Sources told Reuters that Iran's Revolutionary Guards provided direct guidance for the advance down the coast in early September, and that Iranian arms and advice helped the Houthis seize a Red Sea city, Reuters reported. Those claims are attributed to unnamed sources and have not been independently detailed.

The advance puts the Houthis 32km from a US military base in Djibouti on the other side of the strait. Houthi attacks using ballistic missiles and drones wounded 13 civilians on Monday, September 14, 2026. Houthi leadership has said it is not seeking to block all commercial shipping in the Red Sea, only Saudi-linked ships. Reuters reported on September 10 that Houthi control risks further disruptions to Saudi Arabia's oil supplies to Asia.

Saudi Arabia's east-west pipeline moves oil from the Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea export hub of Yanbu, a bypass around Hormuz. It is closed. Officials estimated it could take weeks to fully repair. Rystad Energy said an average of 2.6 million to 4 million barrels of oil a day moved through the pipeline and out of Yanbu since late August 2026. Brent crude, the global oil price benchmark, rose 1.17% to $106.92 a barrel on Tuesday morning, September 15, 2026. The average price of diesel in the US hit $6 per gallon for the first time in the week before September 15, 2026.

Nearly 94,000 people in Yemen have fled their homes since fighting escalated in September 2026, according to the International Organization for Migration. About 200 schools have been converted to shelters in south-western Yemen, according to the International Rescue Committee. More than 2,000 people have fled across the sea from Yemen into Djibouti.

The broader context here is control of a chokepoint, a narrow stretch all ships must use, without a declared blockade. Selective action against Saudi-linked tankers can still raise insurance and shipping costs for all transits, insurers, and flag states, the countries ships are registered in. It creates leverage over Riyadh's east-west bypass around Hormuz while that bypass is offline. It also tests rules for using force near Djibouti, where several foreign forces hold bases close together across narrow water.

For diplomats and operators, the next phase turns on three variables. First, whether the line between Saudi-linked and other commercial shipping holds in practice when missiles and drones are fired from many sites. Second, whether pipeline repair timelines and alternate shipments steady Asian refinery supplies or prolong tight spot markets. Third, whether cross-strait movement into Djibouti and crowded shelters inside Yemen force a negotiation on humanitarian access even as territorial control hardens. None of those outcomes is fixed by island possession alone. All of them are now filtered through it.