The Jerusalem Post says Houthis displaced 100,000 in Yemen. Reuters says “the renewed Yemen conflict” did

One count, different causes. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday that more than 100,000 people have been displaced inside Yemen. Four of the six reports carry that figure, and all four credit it to the agency. They give different causes.

What the agency is quoted saying. The Jerusalem Post and Al-Monitor quote UNHCR directly in one sentence, about access: “Insecurity, damaged roads, telecommunications disruptions and movement restrictions are affecting operations.” It names no side. The Jerusalem Post headline says Saudi Arabia backs the government. It names no backer for the Houthis.

Two numbers, two different counts. UNHCR’s 100,000 are people displaced inside Yemen. Al Jazeera English says “more than 3,400 people arrived in 48 hours” in Djibouti, but does not say who counted them. Reuters and An-Nahar say only “thousands” reached Djibouti.

Who strikes whom. Only An-Nahar describes attacks by both sides. It says the Houthis attacked Saudi cities and energy sites, and that Saudi and Yemeni jets strike Houthi targets “in response”. It gives no deaths for either side.

What is not settled - Whose fighting drove people out. No report quotes UNHCR on that. - Who counted the 3,400 people who reached Djibouti. - Asharq Al-Awsat reports a fuel shortage slowing people who are trying to flee. Its headline is all we have.

What this is about: a civil war in Yemen has flared up again, and people are fleeing their homes, inside the country and across the sea to Djibouti.

How it got here - 2014: the Houthis took the capital, Sanaa. They are an armed movement from Yemen's north, also called Ansar Allah. The government recognised by the UN was pushed out. - March 2015: Saudi Arabia led a coalition of states into the war on the government's side. Years of air strikes and ground fighting followed. - April 2022: a UN-brokered truce began. It formally lapsed that October, but large-scale fighting mostly stopped. The country stayed split between Houthi and government areas. - From late 2023: the Houthis attacked shipping in the Red Sea. They said this was over the war in Gaza. - This month: Asharq Al-Awsat reports that the new escalation "has ended a ceasefire". An-Nahar reports that the Houthis took Yemen's western coast and the area around the Bab al-Mandab strait.

Who is involved, and why - The Houthis hold Sanaa and much of the north. They are fighting to hold and extend that ground. - Yemen's government is backed by Saudi Arabia. It wants its lost territory back. - Saudi Arabia borders Yemen. An-Nahar reports Houthi attacks on Saudi cities and energy sites, and Saudi air strikes in response. - Iran is described as backing the Houthis in every report that names a backer. Iran has long denied arming them. - UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, counts displaced people. The International Organization for Migration is the UN's migration agency. It is helping arrivals in Djibouti.

What is at stake - The Bab al-Mandab is the narrow strait between Yemen and Djibouti. It links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, and ships sailing between Europe and Asia by the Suez Canal pass through it. Whoever controls its shores can threaten that route. - Civilians. Yemen was already one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. More fighting means more people forced from home.

Where it stands We reported on 13 September that UN News counted at least 46,000 displaced. UNHCR now says more than 100,000. Asharq Al-Awsat says more than 2,000 Yemenis are in Djibouti. No report we hold points to talks under way.