Pope Leo XIV demands an end to Yemen hostilities, highlights Taiz’s humanitarian crisis and calls for peace after a deadly church attack in Jordan.

Related: Pope Leo XIV Confirms Official Visit to Argentina in November

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Pope Leo XIV Demands End to Yemen Hostilities

Pope Leo XIV demanded an immediate end to Yemen hostilities during his Angelus address on Sunday, October 25, warning that civilians are paying the highest price in the conflict. Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace before thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the pope expressed deep concern over the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

He paid particular attention to the city of Taiz, where residents are suffering from severe shortages of food, drinking water and medical care.

“I make a heartfelt appeal for hostilities to cease and for the Yemeni people and all the peoples of the region to be guaranteed the right to live in peace,” Pope Leo said.

The pope’s message came as fighting and road closures have cut off vital supplies in Taiz, leaving civilians increasingly isolated. The Vatican said the pope’s appeal was directed at all parties involved in the conflict and at the international community.

Pope Leo also condemned the broader spiral of violence affecting West Asia, calling for urgent guarantees for regional peace. He denounced the devastating consequences of armed confrontations across the region and urged leaders to choose dialogue over war.

The pontiff said wars not only cause death and destruction but also impoverish and damage the world. His appeal placed the humanitarian suffering of Yemeni civilians at the center of the Vatican’s message.

Pope Leo XIV draws attention to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, remembers victims of an attack on Christians in Jordan, and looks ahead to the Assisi gathering marking 40 years since the first World Day of Prayer for Peace.https://t.co/UZ47Hb6oMw

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) October 25, 2026

Yemen Hostilities Deepen Taiz Humanitarian Crisis

Vatican News | United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

The pope’s warning focused on Taiz, a city that has become one of the most visible symbols of Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.

Residents face severe shortages of food, clean water, fuel and basic medical services as fighting and road closures restrict the movement of supplies.

Humanitarian organizations have warned that the blockade of supply routes has worsened conditions for hundreds of thousands of people.

The United Nations has repeatedly called for unimpeded humanitarian access to affected communities across Yemen.

Yemen has been devastated by years of war, economic collapse and the destruction of essential infrastructure.

The conflict has left millions of people dependent on humanitarian assistance and has created one of the world’s most severe food-security emergencies.

The pope said the Yemeni people, like all peoples of the region, have the right to live in peace.

His message also called for an end to the cycle of violence that has spread across West Asia.

Pope Leo condemned the human cost of armed conflict and urged the international community to prioritize negotiation and diplomacy.

The Vatican has repeatedly emphasized that military solutions cannot resolve political crises or address the needs of civilians.

The pope’s appeal comes amid heightened tensions across the Middle East, where conflicts have displaced communities, damaged infrastructure and deepened humanitarian needs.

The Vatican’s message called for a regional approach to peace that protects civilians and guarantees access to humanitarian aid.

🚨 Saná denunció que Arabia Saudita incumplió pactos previos a 2023 al bombardear el aeropuerto de la capital y poner fin a la tregua. Mohammed Abdul-Salam afirmó que la vía diplomática se agotó tras la falta de respuestas claras de Riad. #Yemen #ArabiaSaudita #teleSUR #19Oct pic.twitter.com/ONZhAvdkCG

— teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) October 19, 2026

Pope Leo XIV Mourns Jordan Church Attack Victims

Jordan News Agency | Middle East Council of Churches

Pope Leo XIV also addressed the deadly attack on worshippers at Saint George’s Orthodox Church in Hamoud, in Jordan’s Karak governorate.

The attack occurred on Friday, October 23, during a funeral service at the church.

Jordanian authorities said gunmen opened fire on worshippers, killing nine people and wounding around 40 others.

The pope prayed for those killed and injured in the attack and expressed his closeness to the affected community.

He also expressed solidarity with Jordan, a country he praised for its history of peaceful coexistence and respect among different religions.

Jordan declared three days of national mourning following the attack.

Jordanian authorities launched an investigation to identify those responsible. No group had claimed responsibility for the attack as of Sunday.

Christian leaders across the region condemned the attack as a crime against humanity and an assault on religious coexistence.

Patriarchs and heads of Churches in Jerusalem called on churches across the region to ring their bells in solidarity and pray for the victims.

The pope’s response highlighted the vulnerability of religious communities in a region marked by political instability and sectarian tensions.

His message emphasized that attacks on places of worship are attacks on human dignity and the right to religious freedom.

The Vatican has repeatedly called for the protection of Christian communities and all religious minorities in the Middle East.

119 ataques aéreos de la coalición saudita en 24 horas contra Yemen. En Taiz, un bombardeo a una escuela y un puesto sanitario dejó 3 muertos y 12 heridos, entre ellos mujeres y niños. La escalada supera 2.177 agresiones. #teleSUR #13oct pic.twitter.com/SLJn8j89uW

— teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) October 13, 2026

Assisi Meeting Marks 40 Years of Interfaith Peace

Community of Sant’Egidio | Holy See Press Office

Pope Leo XIV called on the faithful to join spiritually in the peace gathering taking place in Assisi, Italy, on October 27.

The meeting, titled “Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” marks the 40th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace convened by Saint John Paul II in 1986.

The event is organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio and brings together religious leaders, representatives of Christian Churches and figures from other faiths.

The 2026 gathering includes 384 representatives of religions, cultures and institutions from 53 countries.

Participants will take part in 24 thematic forums addressing conflict, disarmament, migration, poverty, young people and the role of religions in building peace.

The pope had planned to attend the closing ceremony in person but canceled the trip on medical advice after undergoing thoracic surgery.

The Vatican said Pope Leo would send a message expressing his closeness to organizers and participants.

The pope urged believers around the world to join the Assisi gathering in prayer.

“Never has it been more evident that wars, in addition to sowing death and destruction, impoverish and harm the world,” he said.

The pope called on the international community to abandon weapons and commit decisively to understanding and harmony among peoples.

The Assisi meeting recalls the historic 1986 gathering, when Pope John Paul II brought together representatives of different religions to pray for peace.

That event became a landmark in interreligious dialogue and remains a reference point for Vatican diplomacy.

The 2026 meeting seeks to renew that tradition at a time of multiple conflicts and growing humanitarian crises.

Geopolitical Context

The pope’s appeal on Yemen hostilities reflects the Vatican’s broader diplomatic effort to promote dialogue in a region marked by war and humanitarian emergencies.

Yemen’s conflict has become one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, with millions of people facing hunger, displacement and limited access to healthcare.

The war has drawn in regional and international powers, making a political solution increasingly difficult.

The crisis in Taiz illustrates how blockades, fighting and the collapse of public services can trap civilians between military objectives and humanitarian needs.

Pope Leo’s message also comes amid rising tensions across West Asia, where conflicts in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Yemen have deepened regional instability.

The Vatican has positioned itself as a voice for civilian protection, humanitarian access and negotiated settlements.

The pope’s call for peace in Yemen and his solidarity with Jordan highlight the connection between armed conflict, religious violence and the erosion of social cohesion.

The Assisi gathering offers a platform for religious leaders to promote dialogue at a time when political institutions face growing difficulty in resolving conflicts.

The Vatican argues that interreligious cooperation can help reduce hatred, protect minorities and build conditions for peace.

The pope’s message is a reminder that wars have consequences beyond battlefields: they destroy economies, displace communities and damage the future of entire generations.

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In July, Saudi Arabia joined the US-Israeli war on the West Asia region with strikes on Yemen. The Ansar Allah-led Yemeni Armed Forces retaliated by launching a maritime blockade alongside attacks targeting vital Saudi interests.

The renewed fighting between the two West Asian nations resulted in Ansar Allah’s takeover of the strategic Red Sea port city of Mokha last week and the liberation of all the group’s prisoners held by Saudi-backed forces on Yemen’s western coast.

Ansar Allah’s seizure of Mokha seaport is reshaping regional and global geopolitics, particularly because it serves as a primary gateway to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and coincides with developments in the Strait of Hormuz.

As these major shifts underscore, Yemen holds immense strategic geopolitical significance.

Situated on the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula and overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Strait, Yemen represents a vital chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean

Consequently, internal political developments in Yemen can have global political and economic repercussions.

This fact, in turn, has put Yemen in the crosshairs of the US-led Western imperialist bloc and their allies in West Asia, which have endeavored to subjugate the country through a devastating decade-long war and blockade. 

The origin of this war coincides with the emergence of Ansar Allah, beginning when the group managed to take control of large swathes of the country, including the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.

The rise of Ansar Allah

Ansar Allah was first established in the early 1990s in the northern Yemeni governorate of Saada as a cultural and educational organization called Al-Shabab al-Mumin (the Believing Youth).

Initially, the organization introduced itself as an unarmed theological movement aimed at reviving and preserving Zaydi Shia Islam and countering the threat of state-backed Sunni Salafism, which sought to uproot the Zaydi religious identity in its homeland of Saada.

From its inception, the movement opposed the government, led by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, accusing it of corruption and criticizing its ties to the United States and its ally Saudi Arabia.

Tensions between the group and the government drastically escalated following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. It was at that time that the group adopted the slogan (Death to America, Death to Israel), during mass protests opposing the war on Iraq.

These slogans posed a political threat to Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was attempting to position his government as a key ally in the “US War on Terror” in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. As a result his government led a brutal crackdown on protesters.

Security forces and riot police suppressed protests using live ammunition, tear gas, and batons, and arbitrarily detained hundreds of political activists, students, and opposition organizers without trial.

In 2004, tension between the Al-Shabab al-Mumin and the Yemeni government boiled over, sparking a series of six internal conflicts known as the Saada Wars. 

These clashes began with the government’s assassination of Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, the group’s founder, and triggered five subsequent rounds of fighting that lasted until 2010. The followers of the group became widely known as the Houthis ever since. 

Saudi Arabia reportedly engaged in the Saada wars by providing immense financial, political, and material support to the Yemeni government. Saudi intervention in Yemen escalated in 2009 with a direct military incursion and unilateral airstrikes against positions held by the Houthi movement.

In 2011, the group joined nationwide demonstrations, calling for the overthrow of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. It was then that the Houthi movement formally adopted the name Ansar Allah (Supporters of God). 

The ousting of Saleh weakened the central government and triggered a sweeping power vacuum, which allowed Ansar Allah to rapidly expand its territorial dominance. By 2012, the Yemeni movement consolidated firm control across the Saada governorate and large swathes of northern Yemen.

In early 2012, vice president to Saleh, Abed Rabbu Mansour, Hadi became the President of Yemen via a transition framework brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as he was  considered as a quiet consensus figure. Hadi was also strongly backed by the Obama administration. 

In late 2014, Ansar Allah allied with forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh against the transitional government headed by Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The fighting that followed led to Ansar Allah’s seizure of the capital Sanaa, forcing Hadi to flee the country.

2015-2022: The Saudi-led coalition’s protracted war against Yemen

From exile in 2015, Hadi requested the Saudi-led coalition to intervene in the conflict, opening the door to one of the bloodiest prolonged wars in West Asia. A conflict that, according to UN estimates, resulted in 377,000 deaths by 2022. 

Saudi Arabia was the main pillar of the coalition, leading the military campaign dubbed “Operation Decisive Storm” with a massive force, including extensive warplanes and ground troops.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) also played a key role by commanding ground and air operations particularly in southern Yemen and along the critical coastal strip.

Bahrain took part in the operation with 12 fighter jets (some sources say 15), and deployed ground troops in the southern Saudi borders to protect Saudi Arabia from Ansar Allah’s attacks. Meanwhile, Kuwait contributed with 15 warplanes.

At the beginning of the campaign, Qatar participated with roughly 1,000 ground troops, armored vehicles, a dozen fighter jets, and transport helicopters until it was expelled from the coalition in June 2017 over a diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt.

Jordan and Morocco contributed six fighter jets each, while Sudan under deposed president Omar Al-Bashir sent three aircrafts and thousands of ground troops. Furthermore, Senegal committed 2,100 troops.

Western countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and France provided logistic and intelligence support, such as aerial refueling for coalition jets, technical assistance, military equipment, coordination support, and maritime surveillance.

The 2022 UN-brokered truce de-escalated the war rather than ending it

In April 2022, the United Nations announced an official two-month nationwide truce agreement, which temporarily halted cross-border attacks, ground and air operations, and allowed fuel imports into ports held by Ansar Allah. It also reopened commercial flights from Sanaa International Airport after years of sea, land, and air blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia. 

Rather than completely removing the blockade, the agreement only resulted in the partial easing of restrictions, while regions under the control of Ansar Allah have continued to face a near-total blockade.

Read more: Yemen demands Saudi-led blockade on the country be lifted immediately

The agreement was renewed in June and extended a second time in August 2022 for an additional two months before it lapsed in October. 

Regional developments reignited the conflict (2023-2026)

In November 2023, Ansar Allah launched a ban on all Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in retaliation for Israel’s genocidal aggression on Gaza.

About one month later, the group significantly expanded the ban to include all ships heading to Israeli ports, regardless of their nationality or flag.

The ban continued until October 2025, despite waves of deadly airstrikes launched by the US, UK, and Israel on Yemen.

An Omani-mediated ceasefire deal between the US and Ansar Allah was reached in May 2025. The deal stipulated halting Ansar Allah’s attacks on US ships in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, and ending US aggression on Yemen, without preventing the Yemeni resistance movement from launching attacks or naval operations against Israel. 

This same period saw a shift in the conflict between the Saudi-led coalition and Ansar Allah from active military engagement toward a tense, fragile diplomacy.

In early 2026, friction between the two major pillars in the anti-Ansar Allah coalition – namely Saudi Arabia and the UAE – surfaced as different Yemeni groups backed by the two countries clashed, apparently over territorial control in Yemen.

Read more: Tensions in Yemen: Are Saudi Arabia and the UAE becoming frenemies?

The US-Israeli war on Iran has drawn Yemen back into the regional conflict

Although Ansar Allah was established as an independent Yemeni movement, it evolved into a key component of the Axis of Resistance over time. This alignment was driven by mutual ideological foundations, shared anti-imperialist ideology, and deep strategic and military cooperation with Iran and Hezbollah.

Despite its affiliation with the resistance alliance, Ansar Allah chose not to get involved in the recent regional war waged by the US and Israel against Iran, for ostensibly strategic considerations and military coordination tactics with its allies.

Read more: Reflections on the US-Israeli multi-front war in West Asia: How the Axis of Resistance remains resilient

However, because the United States and its allies in the region seemingly view the current war as an ideal opportunity to dismantle the Axis of Resistance, Saudi Arabia decided to resume its aggression against Yemen by attacking Sanaa International Airport in July. The attack aimed to prevent an Iranian plane from landing.

Consequently, Ansar Allah launched retaliatory attacks on Saudi interests inside Saudi Arabia and on Yemeni soil. It further declared a maritime blockade against Saudi-linked commercial vessels passing through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, demanding Riyadh end its decade-long blockade on Yemen.  

Concurrently, ground clashes over territorial dominance between Ansar Allah and Saudi-backed forces intensified, leading to key victories for the Yemeni group. Escalations have persisted up to the time of publication.

On Wednesday, September 16, Saudi Arabia accused Ansar Allah of attempting a drone attack against the city of Mecca, the holiest city for Muslims, located in western Saudi Arabia.

Ansar Allah dismissed Saudi accusations as false, saying that they reflect a “desperate attempt to mobilize public opinion.”

As the US-Israeli war on West Asia continues to reshape geopolitics, Ansar Allah’s emergence as a regional force has placed Yemen at the center of a struggle that may define the future of West Asia.