- Arabic:
- جزائر حنيش (Jazāʾir Ḥanīsh)
Hanish Islands
Who controls the Hanish Islands?
What is the importance of the Hanish Islands?
What was the outcome of the dispute between Yemen and Eritrea over the Hanish Islands?
How did the Yemeni Civil War affect the Hanish Islands?
What is the geographical significance of Jabal Zuqar in the Hanish Islands?
What natural resources are found around the Hanish Islands?
Hanish Islands, archipelago in the southern Red Sea and at the northern approach to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Located near international shipping lanes, the islands have strategic value in monitoring traffic through the strait.
History
Long under Ottoman sovereignty, the island group’s political status was purposely left indeterminate by the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), under which Turkey (Türkiye) surrendered all its Asiatic territories outside Anatolia and the Hanish Islands were located between regions taken by Britain and Italy. Between 1923 and World War II, Italy exercised loose control over the fishermen frequenting the area. The islands were the subject of dispute and armed conflict between Yemen and Eritrea in late 1995 and 1996, just years after Yemeni unification and Eritrean independence. Both countries agreed to accept arbitration, and in 1998 the Permanent Court of Arbitration determined that the territory belonged to Yemen. The archipelago officially became part of Yemen on November 1, 1998.
During the Yemeni Civil War (2014– ), the United Arab Emirates constructed a military installation in the archipelago to aid its backing of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) separatists (who during the war sometimes supported the internationally recognized government in Aden). After the STC was defeated and the United Arab Emirates withdrew from its installations in Yemen, the Houthi rebels in northern Yemen made a bid for control of Bab el-Mandeb Strait. They were further encouraged by Iran, their close ally who blockaded the Strait of Hormuz in response to the 2026 Iran war. In September 2026 they swiftly captured the nearby port town of Mokha, Perim (Mayun) Island, and the Hanish Islands.
Geography
The four main islands of the Hanish group occupy a strategic position about 100 miles (160 km) north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the southern entrance to the Red Sea. They extend from north to south in a chain about 40 miles (65 km) long and lie somewhat closer to Yemen than to Eritrea, between 20 to 45 miles (32–70 km) west of the Yemeni coast. From the north they are: Jabal Zuqar, the largest, which is irregularly shaped and about 10 miles (16 km) from north to south and 8 miles (13 km) from east to west at its widest point; Lesser Hanish (Al-Ḥanīsh al-Ṣaghīr); Greater Hanish (Al-Ḥanīsh al-Kabīr); and Suyul Hanish. Interspersed among these islands, and extending southwest to the coast of Eritrea, are many small islets and rocks; the group is a major navigational hazard of the southern Red Sea.
The island group is volcanic in origin and has rugged topography throughout. The island of Jabal Zuqar rises to 2,047 feet (624 meters) above sea level; this is the highest elevation on any of the Red Sea’s many islands. Although barren and inhospitable to settlement, the islands have rich fishing grounds. There are also indications of possible mineral and oil deposits around the islands.