News - Yemen: Satellite imagery has revealed that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is expanding its military infrastructure on Yemen’s strategic islands, with construction underway on a 2,000-meter airstrip on the island of Zuqar, located approximately 90 kilometers southwest of Hodeidah. The development has drawn Zionist media attention, amid reports suggesting that the facility could serve joint military purposes in future operations against Yemen.

According to a televised report by Al-Masirah Channel, the satellite images, captured by Planet Labs, show rapid progress on the project, with one image dated less than a week ago depicting ongoing surfacing work on the runway. Another image from September 30 shows the pier before the asphalt layer was laid—evidence of accelerated construction activity that reportedly began in April 2025.

An Associated Press (AP) analysis of ship-tracking data identified the vessel Batsa, a cargo ship sailing under the Togolese flag and registered to a Dubai-based maritime company, as having docked for about a week alongside the new pier at Zuqar Island. The ship arrived from Berbera, Somalia, where DP World operates the port. While the company declined to comment, another Dubai-based firm, Saif Maritime and Shipping Services, confirmed that it had facilitated the transport of asphalt shipments to the island.

The AP report coincides with Israeli Channel 14 coverage, which described the UAE’s activities as part of “preparations for potential joint operational bases” that could support Israeli enemy's air operations targeting Yemen.

This escalating Emirati militarization follows a series of similar base constructions across Yemeni territories under occupation. Airstrips have already been established in Mocha, Dhabbab, and Abd al-Kuri Island at the entrance of the Gulf of Aden earlier this year, in addition to a runway previously built on Mayun Island in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Recent satellite images published by defense monitoring sites also show continuing construction along Yemen’s western coast, including the building of a naval pier at Ras al-Manhali, opposite Mayun Island, and the carving of a new road linking an under-construction airstrip at Bani al-Hakam to the newly established Mocha airbase.

Analysts say these developments signal a coordinated Emirati-Israeli effort to reinforce their strategic footprint across Yemen’s Red Sea and Gulf of Aden corridors. The moves come as Yemen’s Armed Forces maintain a tight naval blockade on Israeli-linked vessels, a measure that has significantly disrupted the entity's maritime access and commercial routes over the past two years.

Observers warn that the UAE’s continuing occupation and militarization of Yemeni islands constitutes a serious violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and reflects a broader geopolitical agenda aimed at undermining Yemen’s growing influence in the Red Sea.

Since 2015, the UAE has systematically expanded its military and intelligence presence across southern Yemen and its islands, building airstrips, ports, and radar stations in key maritime chokepoints such as Mayun, Abd al-Kuri, and now Zuqar.

The move is widely viewed as part of Abu Dhabi’s ambitions to control vital sea lanes, from the Bab al-Mandab Strait to the Gulf of Aden, while securing strategic depth for Israeli and Western military operations in the region.