Speaking from his home in Sanaa, Hisham Omeisy, a political analyst, told Middle East Eye that the Saudi-led airstrikes risked driving previously anti-Houthi Yemenis into the arms of the militia.

"We're not anti-Houthi anymore," said Omeisy, whose family has fled to a relative's home on the outskirts of Sanaa.

"Remember this is a Yemeni paradigm where the enemy of my enemy is my friend. We do not like Gulfies striking Yemen. We don't take kindly to foreign forces hitting Yemen, no matter what the case is."