On Wednesday, thousands of residents converged on Sanaa to honor the memory of dozens of victims, many of them children, who perished in recent airstrikes attributed to Riyadh. Naharnet and Al-Monitor described the scene at the Mosque of the People, a site the Iran-backed Houthis renamed following their capture of the capital. An AFP photographer observed men and boys in traditional robes standing beside white-draped coffins adorned with the photos of the dead. Attendees chanted slogans against the United States and Israel during the prayers.
The Houthi leadership claimed that a Saturday airstrike struck al-Shariya, a village near the capital, resulting in 44 deaths and 40 injuries. Al-Monitor noted that Almasirah television suggested a second impact occurred while rescue workers were still digging for survivors, a detail AFP found difficult to confirm. Following the service, a procession carried the caskets to al-Shariya for burial. Local farmer Daifallah Sarhan told AFP that the victims were simply sharing a meal with their families when the impact hit, describing them as innocent.
These losses fit into a wider resumption of combat that started last summer. The United Nations estimates that the renewed fighting has claimed over 1,600 lives and forced more than 300,000 Yemenis from their homes. The 2022 truce collapsed in July when the Houthis permitted an Iranian aircraft to touch down in Sanaa, challenging Saudi dominance of the airspace. This move triggered a maritime blockade and Houthi attacks on Saudi oil facilities and shipping, culminating in the seizure of the entire Red Sea coast.
Al-Monitor reported that the Saudi-led coalition announced on X that it had intercepted three cruise missiles aimed at the Riyadh area on Wednesday. The Houthis also damaged a Saudi Aramco skyscraper in the capital's financial district on Sunday, while Riyadh's international airport has faced repeated targeting. Naharnet added that 26 people have died in Houthi strikes on Saudi territory since the hostilities restarted.