World

Yemen’s Escalating Conflict Threatens Food Crisis and Overwhelms Health Services

By Reuters

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have warned that the renewed fighting in Yemen could quickly turn into a humanitarian catastrophe. An estimated 800,000 people have been cut off from life‑saving food assistance as front lines shift between Saudi‑backed forces of the internationally recognised government and Iran‑aligned Houthis, the WFP said. El‑Khidir Daloum, WFP’s country director in Yemen, described the situation as one that could spiral into a humanitarian disaster.

The crisis is most acute in Taiz, Yemen’s third‑largest city, where about 600,000 people lack access to food assistance, including 200,000 women and children, according to a United Nations statement. Taiz has been the focus of recent clashes and is surrounded by Houthi forces, threatening aid deliveries. The WFP noted that the loss of access is especially alarming because Taiz has some of the highest levels of food insecurity in the country. Across Yemen, more than 18 million people do not have enough to eat, and the latest monitoring shows a record 74 percent of households in accessible areas cannot meet their daily food needs.

Health facilities in Marib, Taiz and along the Red Sea coast are overwhelmed by the fighting. The ICRC said some hospitals have received more than 700 cases in a single week. Firas Abu Samra, the ICRC’s health services coordinator, noted that only a handful of facilities can provide comprehensive care for the injured. Front‑line hospitals are treating large numbers of wounded while running short of surgical supplies, anaesthetics, oxygen and medicines. Eduardo Toro, an ICRC surgeon at Marib General Hospital, warned that additional pressure on hospitals could reduce beds, supplies and the ability to treat people with conditions unrelated to the conflict. Christine Cipolla, the ICRC’s head of delegation in Yemen, said the country’s battered health system is ill‑prepared to cope with any more fighting and may have little capacity left to absorb a major surge in casualties.