Yemen is threatening to fracture even further, exposing a growing rift between Middle East powers Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The Houthis, who control most of Yemen, issued a sharp warning to Tel Aviv after it formally recognised Somaliland, saying any Israeli presence in the breakaway Somalian region would be treated as a “military target”.

The Houthis’ stepped-up detentions of civil society and UN agency members has contributed to increasing the humanitarian aid crisis in Yemen, already one of the worst situations in the world.

Recent Saudi airstrikes against UAE-aligned separatists escalated tensions in southern Yemen. With Saudi Arabia and the UAE backing opposing factions, a return to fighting would most benefit the Houthis.

Yemen's more than decade-long civil war has flared up after a United Arab Emirates-backed separatist movement swept through territory in the south, splintering the Saudi-led coalition that was created to fight the Iran-aligned Houthi group.

A separatist group in southern Yemen said Wednesday it was urgently trying to contact its delegation that traveled to the Saudi capital for talks on de-escalating tensions among rival forces on the ground.