Hodeidah Headed for Destruction

The Saudi-UAE coalition claims capture of the airport in Hodeidah. But even if true it's a hollow victory, according to Middle East Eye's "In Yemen’s Hodeidah, Houthis dig in for protracted street fighting":

Since announcing the offensive on 13 June, the coalition has made progress by capturing the sprawling airport compound, which served as a Houthi military base rather than as an airstrip in recent years, after one week’s fighting

Yet Ibrahim al-Siragi, a pro-Houthi political analyst, sees no real value in the airport’s capture.

"There is no strategic importance to the airport and only the aggressor [the Saudi-led coalition] is talking about the importance of the airport, to tell its supporters that it was able to achieve a major advance,” he told MEE.

The battle now shifts to the port, which is the real prize. Houthi fighters are digging in and establishing sniper nests. All indications are they are willing to fight to the finish to maintain control of the port:

Just 8km from the airport, Hodiedah’s port is the main conduit for food, medical and commercial supplies coming into the country and a site of key strategic importance.

Not only a lifeline for a country suffering from what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis – 22 million people require food aid – the facility is a major resource for the Houthi rebels.

The Saudi-led coalition accuses the Houthis of smuggling Iranian weapons, including rockets that are occasionally fired into Saudi Arabia, through the port.

Though this is an accusation the Houthis deny, losing the port would mean losing other kinds of supplies too, such as the revenues it gains through duties.

Fadhl al-Robie, the head of Madar Strategic Studies Center, a think tank based in Aden, believes that the Houthis will exert all efforts to stop the pro-Hadi forces from taking it.

"Hodeidah seaport is the main port for the Houthis and they are not willing to withdraw peacefully, so they will resort to any kind of fighting to defend Hodeidah, even street battles," he told MEE.

On the other side, the Saudi-UAE coalition says the the objective remains Hodeidah's port. So it appears the city and seaport will be destroyed by fighting, which is what happened in Aden in 2015.