How the Houthis rule in Yemen: Prisons, a personality cult, and pilfered food aid Story

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Protesters, predominantly Houthi supporters, rally to celebrate the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on the day it went into effect, in Sanaa, Yemen, October 10, 2025.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi terror group has been lionized at pro-Palestinian protests around the world and on social media for its missile strikes on Israel over the Gaza war. In May, even US President Donald Trump lauded the Houthis’ grit.

“We hit them very hard,” Trump said, in announcing the group had agreed to stop attacking ships in the Red Sea following weeks of US strikes on them. “They had a great capacity to withstand punishment … You can say there’s a lot of bravery there.”

At home, many who have lived under Houthi rule have a starkly different view. In interviews with hundreds of Yemenis who have fled the Houthi-controlled part of this divided country, people described a terrorist group that silences critics, drives people into starvation, and has used international food aid to force parents to hand over children to be soldiers in its armed forces.

“People are between a rock and a hard place,” said Abdul-Salam, a 37-year-old farmer who lives in a displaced persons camp in Yemen after fleeing the Houthi-controlled part of the country. “The Houthis would give you a choice: be with them and take a food basket to stave off hunger, or get nothing.”

Like many interviewed for this story, Abdul-Salam spoke on condition that only his first name be used, saying he has family members still living under the Houthis.

Interviews with Yemeni civilians and dozens of aid workers, as well as a review of internal UN aid agency documents, reveal how the Houthis maintain their iron grip.

How Houthis maintain iron grip

They levy an array of taxes on their impoverished subjects, manipulate the international aid system and imprison hundreds. Human rights and aid organizations have faced waves of arrests: In late August, the World Food Program said 15 staff members were detained after Houthi authorities forced their way into the organization’s offices in Sanaa, the capital. This brings the number of aid workers currently being held in detention to 53.