Last year, the camps were launched against the backdrop of the war in Gaza and the Houthis’ campaign of "support" for the Palestinians. This year, the camps are taking place alongside daily U.S. airstrikes targeting Houthi positions across Yemen.
According to a Saudi report, the airstrikes have hampered enrollment in the camps. However, Houthi-affiliated media outlets, such as Al-Masirah, claim there is still widespread participation this year. Meanwhile, on Monday afternoon, the Houthis announced they would continue attacking ships in the Red Sea, even after claiming that 68 people were killed overnight in an alleged U.S. strike on a migrant detention facility.
The summer camps were launched across Yemen in early April under the slogan "Knowledge and Jihad." Despite the Houthis' promotional efforts, they may be concealing failures. The Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat recently reported that interest among residents in the camps this year has been limited, despite the Houthis' attempts to recruit children. Sources cited in the report linked the decreased interest to the U.S. strikes that began on March 16, noting that senior Houthi officials have been largely absent from launch events and promotional activities for fear of being targeted.
The reluctance to send children to the camps is also rooted in long-standing concerns. For years, families have feared that the Houthis would recruit children for frontline combat. According to Asharq Al-Awsat, thousands of children have been recruited and sent to the front lines in recent years, with some killed and others disappearing from their families for extended periods.
Mutahar Al-Badhiji, head of the Yemeni Coalition for Monitoring Human Rights Violations, told the newspaper that the Houthis are exploiting the American strikes to promote their narrative and recruit children to "fight against the U.S. and Israel."
According to Asharq Al-Awsat, the Houthis are mainly targeting rural areas for child recruitment, where public awareness of their activities is lower and the dangers less understood. Al-Badhiji said it is easier to convince rural families that the camps are merely educational workshops that enhance children's academic achievements and occupy their time. Widespread poverty in Yemen and promises of food baskets and financial aid further help persuade families. The camps also serve as a key source of income for Houthi teachers involved in the program.
In a separate report by Asharq Al-Awsat in recent days, local sources said that residents of the Al-Sunaina neighborhood in Sanaa stormed and shut down three summer camps after discovering what the children were being subjected to. In response, the Houthis sent armed forces to reopen the camps and threatened mass arrests. One resident, whose son had been recruited and killed while fighting for the Houthis, told the newspaper: "I only learned of my son's fate seven months later when I saw his photo at an exhibition of fallen fighters organized by the Houthis."
Despite the difficulties, Houthi-affiliated channels continue to broadcast claims of high turnout at the camps. Al-Masirah, for example, described the attendance as "unprecedented despite the war and the airstrikes," dismissing concerns as "enemy propaganda" meant to deter families from sending their children. Videos published by Al-Masirah show children stomping on Israeli and American flags and echoing the rhetoric of Houthi leadership. "We stand with our brothers in Gaza and Palestine. We support them. We will not surrender to the Zionist and Israeli occupation, and God willing, we will be a good example," said one girl in a televised report.
The internationally recognized Yemeni government, based in Aden, has consistently warned against the dangers of the Houthi summer camps. It describes them as "closed camps" used to "fuel" the war, spread sectarian ideology, and erode national identity under the familiar slogans of "supporting Palestine" and "resisting America."
Preparations for this year's camps began as early as February, with Houthi-linked media sharing images of the arrangements and promoting the upcoming activities under the slogan "Knowledge and Jihad." In a speech delivered on April 4, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi stressed the "importance" of the summer camps, calling them a "fortification against the destructive war known as the soft war." He said the camps aim to raise a generation with good morals, pride, faith, and responsibility, emphasizing the need for children to remain committed to their identity and faith while gaining "guidance, awareness, and knowledge." He added: "We seek to raise a generation loyal to the Quran, capable of improving reality and confronting dangers and challenges. Those who examine the reality of the nation will see both great dangers and great opportunities."
It is worth noting that the Houthi summer camps coincide with a broad military recruitment campaign launched by the group across areas under its control. Residents are being enrolled in mandatory courses known as the "Al-Aqsa Flood" program — the Palestinian name for the war in Gaza — under the pretext of supporting the Palestinian cause. These efforts come amid additional reports of increased surveillance and arrests on Yemeni streets since the start of the American strikes.
