The port was previously controlled by Saudi-backed government forces. Following the takeover, the Houthis are now only about 75 kilometres (46 miles) from the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the southern gateway to the major trade route linking Asia and Europe.
The Houthis have said they do not pose a threat to international shipping, but have repeated their threat to target Saudi ships. Saudi Arabia has relied on the Red Sea for oil exports since the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf was effectively closed following the war between Israel and the United States and Iran.
The intensifying conflict involving the Houthis, the Yemeni government and Saudi Arabia has pushed oil prices sharply higher. Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed and thousands displaced since the Houthis launched an offensive in the southwestern region a week ago.
The Saudi-led coalition has also carried out airstrikes on Houthi-controlled areas of western Yemen, while the Houthis have launched missile and drone attacks against cities and oil facilities in southern Saudi Arabia.
After taking Mocha port, Houthi fighters are moving south towards the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a crucial waterway for international maritime trade. The waterway connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and normally carries about 12% of the world’s goods.
The seizure of Mocha represents a major setback for Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni forces it supports. It could also provide relief to Iran as it seeks to maintain pressure on global energy prices.
The importance of Bab al-Mandeb to global oil supplies has increased as Iran has disrupted shipping through the nearby Strait of Hormuz during its war with the United States and Israel.
Heavy ground fighting had been continuing in Mocha for several days between Houthi fighters and forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognised government. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, rose to $105 a barrel after the Houthis seized the historic port.
Mocha was once an important centre for coffee traders from Europe and the Middle East. The Houthis took control of the port on Thursday after driving out forces loyal to the Yemeni government.
The rebel advance came after days of intense fighting, reigniting a civil war that has continued for more than a decade.
The Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi ports in July. They attacked Saudi tankers and disrupted shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
Residents of Mocha said Houthi fighters entered the city after intense clashes with Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces on Wednesday night, forcing several families to flee their homes.
One resident told BBC Arabic’s Middle East Lifeline programme, “The takeover happened without any warning. Panic spread throughout the area and people were forced to flee. The situation was terrifying. Wounded people were lying in the streets and there was no one to help them.”
Another resident said Houthi fighters were patrolling the streets of Mocha on Thursday while government offices and shops remained closed.
“We do not know what Ansar Allah will do at the moment,” the resident said, using the group’s official name. “Everyone is afraid for their safety.”
Several displaced families were heading east towards the city of Aden, where Yemen’s internationally recognised Presidential Leadership Council and government are based.
A woman told BBC Arabic, “We fled with our children and kept running. We have no bed, no home and nothing else. Everything was destroyed within an hour. They did not even give us a chance and there was no prior warning.”
She added, “We are women who have no means of defending ourselves, and we have innocent children with us.”
The Houthis did not immediately confirm their seizure of Mocha.
However, according to Houthi-run Al Masirah TV, the group’s Supreme Political Council said in a statement on Thursday that clashes in the western coastal districts had stopped after “repelling the mobilisation of the Saudi enemy.”
Tariq Saleh, leader of the government-backed National Resistance Forces, also said he had moved his command centre on the western coast to a “safe location.”
He said his forces had “paid a heavy price in recent days in the face of a planned operation by Iran and the Houthis.”
A Yemeni army source told AFP that Houthi fighters had also seized Zuqar Island in the Red Sea, about 80 kilometres northwest of Mocha. The Houthis first launched a heavy barrage of rockets before carrying out a ground assault by boat.
Meanwhile, Presidential Leadership Council chief Rashad al-Alimi appealed to Arab countries and other nations to help defend Yemen’s coastline and restore state control.
The Houthi Supreme Political Council stressed its “right to defend Yemen’s sovereignty and territorial waters” and assured the international community that shipping in the Red Sea remained safe.
However, the Houthi-run Humanitarian Operations Coordination Centre also stressed that the ban on Saudi ships remained in place.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said Saudi warplanes had carried out 64 airstrikes over the previous 24 hours in the western provinces of Taiz, Hodeidah, Marib and Jawf.
There was no immediate comment from the Saudi military.
However, the spokesman for the Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen said on Wednesday evening that the coalition would respond to Houthi missile and drone attacks on the southwestern Saudi cities of Khamis Mushait, Abha and Jizan.
According to Saudi officials, the Houthis launched dozens of drones and missiles at southern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The attacks injured 73 civilians and caused fires at several oil facilities, temporarily halting operations there.
The Houthis said they were responding to dozens of airstrikes carried out in recent days against areas under Saudi control, including an attack on a prison in the city of Hazm in Jawf province on Monday. According to the Houthis, at least 23 civilians were killed in that strike.
The Saudi-led coalition has supported the Yemeni government against the Houthis throughout Yemen’s devastating civil war, which has lasted for more than a decade.
An unofficial ceasefire that had lasted for four years began to weaken in July after the Houthis announced a “maritime blockade” against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.
The Houthis said the attacks were in response to Saudi Arabia’s blockade of ports and airports in areas under Houthi control, as well as an airstrike on Sanaa airport, which they blamed on Saudi Arabia.
The seizure of Mocha and the reported capture of Zuqar Island have brought the Houthis closer to the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, placing the strategically vital Red Sea shipping route at the centre of the escalating confrontation between the Houthis, Yemen’s government and Saudi Arabia.
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