Yemen’s Houthi rebels have seized the strategic islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish in the southern Red Sea, bolstering the Iran-backed rebels’ ability to control a key maritime shipping route.Houthi officials said Monday (September 14) that rebels had taken over the two islands just as Saudi-backed government forces tried to claw back territory from the rebels’ swift advances around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz – through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas transits in peacetime – in the opening days of the war in retaliation against the US-Israeli strikes on its territory. The Saudis have since used the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which leads out of the Red Sea, for crude oil exports.The Houthis’ latest takeover, following the seizure of the Red Sea port of Mokha and a strategic island last week, puts more pressure on Saudi shipments and, in turn, global oil supplies and prices.A map showing the Houthis capturing territory near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait (AP).This could give Iran additional leverage in its war with the United States.The Houthis’ advance also put them just 32 kilometres from the US military base in Djibouti, on the other side of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. It’s the main US base in Africa and one of several foreign military bases in Djibouti, including those of China, France and Japan.Yemenis flee homes as rebels press onNearly 94,000 people have fled their homes in Yemen since fighting between the Houthis and government forces escalated this month, the International Organisation for Migration said Monday.The worst-hit areas are Taiz and Lahj, where 48,000 have been displaced, the UN agency said, adding that more than 2,000 people have fled across the sea into Djibouti.Displaced Yemenis are seen at the al-Firdaws camp in Ras Imran, just outside Aden, Yemen, on September 14, 2026. Photo: AP/Abdulnasser Alseddik.Around 200 schools have been converted to shelters in southwestern Yemen to absorb an influx of families, the International Rescue Committee, an aid group, said.Fears mount that Yemen is inching closer to a return to a civil war that killed 150,000 before a 2022 ceasefire. The World Health Organisation said more than 500 people were killed in a weeklong period ending Saturday, a sharp increase.Yemen’s internationally recognised government and Saudi Arabia have been battling the Houthis for 12 years.With inputs from AP reporter Samy Magdy in Cairo.(AP)