On July 20 local time, Yemen’s Houthi-aligned armed forces issued a statement declaring an immediate maritime navigation ban on Saudi Arabia, citing Saudi “unjust and brutal” blockade and aggression. The statement, effective on issuance, invoked religious texts and accused Saudi Arabia of a 12-year comprehensive blockade of Yemeni ports, airports and land crossings that it said had “no legal or humanitarian justification” and imposed “unbearable suffering” on the Yemeni people. It also condemned

On July 20 local time, Yemen’s Houthi-aligned armed forces issued a statement declaring an immediate maritime navigation ban on Saudi Arabia, citing Saudi “unjust and brutal” blockade and aggression. The statement, effective on issuance, invoked religious texts and accused Saudi Arabia of a 12-year comprehensive blockade of Yemeni ports, airports and land crossings that it said had “no legal or humanitarian justification” and imposed “unbearable suffering” on the Yemeni people. It also condemned a recent Saudi strike on Sanaa International Airport as a “brazen act of treacherous aggression.”