This summer, Yemen’s vacation period has diverged sharply from the norm. Months before the break, children became the target of intensive propaganda aimed at drawing them into training camps ostensibly to “support Gaza,” according to the Yemeni Coalition to Monitor Human Rights Violations (Rasd Coalition) and other Yemeni human rights organizations. Reports reveal that the Houthis exploited the Gaza conflict to recruit children to fight their opponents in Yemen.
The Houthis saw the Israeli war on Gaza, which resulted in tens of thousands of Palestinian casualties, as “a means to attract children, stir their sentiments, and convince their families of the need to volunteer to support Palestine,” according to human rights researchers in Yemen.
Since November, the Houthis have launched missile and drone attacks on ships in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden, claiming these actions are in “solidarity” with Palestinians against the Israeli war on Gaza.
One such victim was M.D., a child recruited by the Houthis after being swayed by their propaganda promoting volunteer and recruitment camps in Yemen. Human rights statements indicate that M.D. believed he was fighting “for the sake of Palestine.” The Rasd Coalition, a civil society organization and member of the Justice Pact for Yemen, documented the story of M.D., highlighting that the Houthis “exploited the victim’s poor education background, his family’s economic vulnerability, and social marginalization. The Houthis managed to attract and recruit him under the pretext of supporting Gaza, deployed him in the war front against its military opponents in Yemen, ultimately leading to his death.”
M.D., hailing from Al-Abdala village in Malian District, Hajjah Governorate, was recruited on January 14, 2024, and killed on May 5 of the same year on the Midi front. The Rasd Coalition refrains from disclosing the identities of child victims for fear of retaliation by the Houthis.
According to the Rasd Coalition, M.D.’s tragic story began with his dropping out of school. Coming from a family economically marginalized and indifferent to education, with his father deceased and no support to continue his education, M.D. saw recruitment as a way to earn income and support Palestinians, making him a prime target for the Houthis.
According to the Rasd Coalition, after M.D.’s death, his brother was informed two days later and traveled to Sanaa’s military hospital, where he found M.D.’s body in the morgue. A military vehicle then took the body to Hajjah Governorate for an official funeral and immediate burial. The family was not allowed to see M.D. before his burial, except for his brother who only saw his face. The Houthis cited religious reasons for not allowing the body to be uncovered.
The Rasd Coalition reports that the Houthis “recruited about 30 youths, including 10 children, from Al-Abdala village in the Malian district of the Hajjah Governorate, where M.D. was from. The village has a population of about a 1000 people, most of whom work in Qat and grain cultivation. Recruitment in the village occurs through coercion by tribal leaders or by indoctrinating children with the virtues of jihad and the lure of monthly salaries.”
How Are Yemeni Children Recruited?
A relative of M.D., speaking anonymously for security reasons, told the Rasd Coalition’s researcher that “Houthis exploited the Gaza war to recruit youth and children. A Houthi supervisor happened to find M.D. in the village square, and lured him by promising him a trip to Palestine. According to his relative, M.D. was initially excited about the prospect of wielding a rifle and impressing his village peers: “He was persuaded by his brothers, while his mother was hesitant.”
The relative continued: “The Houthis conducted lectures in the village mosque for three days, culminating in an invitation to join combat courses. Children, including (M.D.), were transported to a training camp by military vehicles. They recorded the names of the youth and children, including M.D, and they were transferred to the training camp in the presence of several Houthi leaders.”
According to information by the Rasd Coalition, M.D. was transferred to the training camp, designated for training recruits. After two months of training, through which he was kept incommunicado with his mother, (M.D.) was deployed to security checkpoints in Malian District before being transferred to the Midi and Hiran war fronts, west of the Hajjah Governorate, in mid-April to fight against the internationally recognized government forces.
In May, a Houthi supervisor informed M.D.’s brother of his death while defending the homeland against “mercenaries.”
Rasd Coalition’s findings indicate that recruitment centers are managed by the Supervisory Authority for General Mobilization and Recruitment, which has branches in all Houthi-controlled cities. These centers operate under tight secrecy, with recruited children often blindfolded during transport.
Al-Abdala village, though generally opposed to recruitment, has been impacted by the Houthis’ mobilization efforts, which have included the use of religious discourse as well as financial incentives and food aid to families in dire economic conditions. Most of the villagers are classified as poor farmers which has led them to be more accepting of their children being recruited for financial purposes.
Mutahhar Al-Bathiji, CEO of the Yemeni Coalition for Monitoring Human Rights Violations, explains that the organization monitors and documents child recruitment violations through field visits, interviews with victims’ families and witnesses, and by analyzing data from open sources, the Internet, Houthi media, and related news and videos. He notes that the Houthi group has effectively used schools, mosques, and summer centers for recruitment, leveraging their network of supervisors and mobilizers among sheiks and neighborhood leaders, and investing substantial funds to influence children.
Al-Bathiji further elaborates that the Houthi group “exploited the Gaza conflict, particularly since October of the previous year, to enroll thousands of children in intensive training courses—two three-month courses in the cities under their control. They utilized aggressive propaganda regarding the Gaza conflict to attract as many children as possible, preparing them for deployment to various fronts under the guise of supporting Gaza and Palestine.” He also highlights that the Houthis took advantage of attacks in the Red Sea to recruit children under the pretext of fighting Israel, the U.S., and Britain, significantly affecting many families in impoverished rural areas. This tactic has led to a surge in recruitment, surpassing previous campaigns.
Al-Bathiji emphasizes the urgent need for civil society and human rights organizations to improve monitoring and documentation of child recruitment violations, as well as to enhance awareness and education for children and their families, and advocate for children’s and human rights in Yemen. He asserts that “monitoring and documentation are crucial first steps towards protecting victims’ rights, holding perpetrators accountable, and achieving justice.”
Sadiq Al-Wasabi, a Yemeni researcher and media figure, says that the Houthi group “is capitalizing on the Gaza-Israel conflict to recruit more children, deceiving them into believing that their actions are in support of Al-Aqsa.” He adds that the Houthis “are leveraging the media attention from their military operations in the Red Sea,” and explains that “children are being indoctrinated by the Houthis, dragging them into internal conflicts under the pretense of defending Gaza.” Al-Wasabi points out that “the extensive media propaganda effectively exploits the sentiments of Yemenis, who have a strong inclination to support the Palestinian cause.”
Tawfiq Al-Hamidi, head of the SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties, notes, “This time, the campaigns are operating in a charged atmosphere of intense emotional and media discourse, whether concerning the Gaza conflict, attacks on ships in the Red Sea, or the ongoing targeting of UN employees, who are portrayed as agents.”
Dead Under Mysterious Circumstances
M.D. was not the only victim recruited by the Houthis, who took advantage of the war in Gaza. He was killed on one of the group’s internal fronts. The Rasd Coalition, a member of the Justice Pact for Yemen, documented the deaths of 31 other children recruited under the pretext of supporting Al-Aqsa Mosque and the city of Jerusalem.
The Yemeni child M.K. was killed under mysterious circumstances. The Rasd Coalition collected details about the child’s recruitment and subsequent death, from his initial enlistment to his return as a deceased body and the military funeral that followed.
The Rasd Coalition reports that the 15-year-old child was recruited with the promise of “Supporting Gaza.” The Houthis launched a broad mobilization and recruitment campaign in Bani Hashish District, Sanaa Governorate, on December 28 of the previous year, under the slogan “Awareness Campaign to Support Gaza.”
Fayez Al-Hanmi, the Houthis’ public mobilization and recruitment official in Bani Hushaish District, “managed to recruit dozens of people, including several underaged children.”
The Rasd Coalition reveals that a Houthi supervisor “persuaded the father of the victim M.K. to enlist his son in defense of Gaza, promising that this would bring the family closer to district officials and prioritize them for any aid from humanitarian organizations.”
On January 2, the victim’s father handed over M.K., who was then transferred to the Khashm Al-Bakrah camp in Bani Hushaish district, affiliated with the 102nd Brigade. There, the child underwent training in weapon use as part of a combat course called the Al-Aqsa Flood.
After approximately two weeks of training, “the child was deployed with other recruits to one of their fronts for a single day,” according to the Rasd Coalition data. However, he was “killed last January under mysterious circumstances, and his family was only informed three days later.”
The Rasd Coalition states that another Houthi supervisor, responsible for the combat course in Bani Hushaish, informed the victim’s father that his son had become a martyr while defending the homeland in Al-Jouf, at the Al-Jadfar Front.
An Official Funeral to Ease the Shock
M.K.’s family was devastated by the news of his death. The Houthis held an official funeral for him at Al-Saleh Mosque in central Sanaa, complete with military marches. The district director, the district supervisor, and several officials attended the funeral. The child’s body was then transported to Bani Hushaish for burial in a cemetery affiliated with the Houthis.
A relative of the victim’s told the Rasd Coalition that the victim’s father and family were stunned by the events surrounding their son’s death. However, Houthi mobilization officials visited the family’s home to commend them and present them as “a model family that sacrificed their son for the homeland.”
The relative added that the official funeral and subsequent visit by Houthi officials were intended to “make the family feel proud and ease their shock.”
He explained that Houthi officials, active in mobilization and recruitment throughout the year, intensified their efforts “taking advantage of the Palestinian cause since early November 2023.” During November and December, they recruited several children and enrolled them in military courses.
He noted that between January and April of the previous year, the Houthis “recruited fighters, including underaged children, with recruitment campaigns continuing to this day.” Schools, including their radio stations, and mosques have been extensively used since October to incite jihad in support of Gaza, with seminars held daily between sunset and evening prayers.
Other mobilization methods include “tribal sheiks urging the district director and general mobilization officials to forcibly gather fighters and convince them to join the group,” under the same pretext.
Serious Violations
Yemeni legislation prohibits the recruitment of children, their exploitation, and involving them in armed conflicts or military activities, and stipulates punishment for such actions. According to Yemeni Child Rights Law No. (45) of 2002, children are to be protected from all forms of exploitation, especially sexual and economic, as emphasized in Article (147).
Legal experts argue that while Yemeni legislation prohibits the economic exploitation of children, including using their financial needs to coerce them into military activities, there is a gap in enforcement.
Lawyer and human rights activist Yasser Al-Maliki asserts that Yemeni legislation “still falls short of providing sufficient standards to protect children from recruitment, despite the Yemeni government’s claims in its fourth report submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child that it has aligned its legislation with its obligations under ratified agreements.”
He adds that although Yemeni legislation “has banned recruitment, it does not specify penalties for perpetrators of child recruitment. There is a gap between the legal protection for children and the actual punishment of those who recruit them.”
Al-Maliki explains that “when the legislation to protect children was established, the legislative bodies and the government did not anticipate the risks posed by armed groups. They were only considering recruitment by state armed forces, creating a loophole that allows armed groups to evade punishment.”
As a result, Al-Maliki finds it difficult to assert that Yemeni legislation offers full protection against recruitment. These legislative gaps have led to widespread child recruitment practices. The Houthis disregard both local and international human rights laws, framing recruitment as a “religious and national duty in the face of what they call aggression,” according to the Rasd Coalition researchers.
Since the start of the armed conflict in Yemen in 2014, various warring parties have recruited thousands of children to fight on their fronts. Last year, the UN Panel of Experts revealed that most of the investigated violations related to child recruitment were linked to the Houthis, who continue to recruit and use children, especially in summer camps.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory and the SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties, a Yemeni civil society organization and member of the Pact for Justice in Yemen, report that the Houthis recruited over 10,000 children between 2014 and 2021. The United Nations has also verified at least 1,851 individual cases of child recruitment or use by the Houthis since 2010.
Despite the announcement of the UN-sponsored truce in April 2022, Rasd Coalition has documented the Houthis’ recruitment and use of about 40 children between the truce announcement and the signing of the Agreement of Principles to End the Conflict in December 2023.
The Rasd Coalition notes that there are no accurate statistics on the actual number of child victims recruited by the Houthis (as there is no complete database in civil society, with many figures being estimates). However, several civil society organizations confirm that the Houthis have increased the pace of child recruitment since October, following the outbreak of the Israeli war on Gaza.
