[Today's Prayer] Yemen's Civil War Intensifies... 192 Killed in the Largest Fighting in Four Years Since the Ceasefire

Yemen's government forces, supported by Saudi Arabia, and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have engaged in the most intense ground fighting since 2022, resulting in nearly 200 deaths over two days. As Yemen's civil war intensifies, concerns are growing that passage through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a strategically important international energy route, will become increasingly difficult.

AFP and China's Xinhua News Agency reported on the 5th (local time), citing Yemeni military and Houthi rebel officials, that clashes in areas including Hodeidah and Taiz in southwestern Yemen resulted in the deaths of 26 Yemeni government soldiers and 31 Houthi rebels. The Yemeni military also reported that a bus traveling along a major road in Taiz, an area under government control, was attacked by Houthi rebels, killing six people and injuring seven. Following the 129 deaths from clashes between the two sides the previous day, another 63 people were killed that day. The total number of deaths over the two days reached 192.

(Excerpt)

The Houthis' large-scale attack is an extension of the Sana'a International Airport airstrike that occurred last July, during the height of the U.S.-Israel-Iran war. At the time, the Yemeni government forces claimed that they had carried out the airstrike to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing. However, the Houthi rebels identified Saudi Arabia as being behind the attack and abruptly declared an end to the ceasefire. Since then, they have declared a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and have been attacking Saudi oil tankers.

As the Houthi rebels concentrate their military forces around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea, a key hub for international logistics, Yemen's civil war, which had been relatively quiet, is once again raising concerns about the possibility of a return to full-scale war following the 2022 ceasefire. The more control the Houthi rebels gain over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the greater the concern that international maritime transportation and global supply chains will be disrupted.

Source: Nate News

This is the way of those who are foolish, and the end of those who delight in their words. (Selah) ... But God will receive me; therefore He will deliver my soul from the power of Sheol. (Selah) (Psalm 49:13, 15)

We hear the news that 192 people have been killed over two days in the largest clash between the Yemeni government forces and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels since the 2022 ceasefire.

Lord, have mercy on Yemen and the Yemeni people, where the news of death has not ceased because of decades of ongoing war. May the way of those who foolishly kill their own people, deceived by false Islam, now come to an end. May the message of life and peace, which covers over the news of war and death, fill the Yemeni people.

Lord, uphold the church in Yemen. Grant them an even stronger faith that holds firmly to Jesus, who saves our souls from the power of death, so that they may overcome any persecution and suffering. As the Yemeni church shares the love of Jesus with the Yemeni people who are suffering under the power of death, Holy Spirit, please move among them so that the joy of salvation may be poured out upon them.

Lord, cause the global church to continually intercede in prayer for the situation of the civil war in Yemen. Through the prayers of the global church, may Yemen be set free from the power of Sheol and become a people who welcome God. Also, through Jesus Christ, who reconciled us through the cross, may all division and conflict in Yemen be transformed into reconciliation and peace.

Therefore, may the Yemeni people rise up as a people who are united by the Holy Spirit, praising and worshiping Jesus alone, and leading all the nations who have been under the power of death to the Lord!