The United Nations said that the shortage of humanitarian aid has exacerbated the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Yemen. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said - in a recent report - that Yemen remains one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with an estimated 21.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance or protection in 2023. The report indicated that the organization faced difficulties in financing its humanitarian plan for the current year, obtaining only 37.5% of the required funds as of late last October. The report pointed out that the global food shortage has exacerbated the situation, as many vulnerable families in Yemen face difficulties securing food, and its prices have become unaffordable. Despite the shortage of funding, relief agencies in Yemen delivered lifesaving aid to 8.6 million people per month between January and October 2023. The war in Yemen began in 2014.
Several government soldiers were reportedly killed and injured on Saturday in Taiz province in a drone strike by the Houthi group. Local sources said that the Houthi group used a drone to strike a government military outpost in Hayfan of Taiz. So far, the number of casualties is unclear. Houthis control some parts of Taiz, and they keep attempting to capture areas governed by the Yemeni government.
A UN official on Friday warned of the consequences of the threat posed by Yemen's Houthi group on maritime navigation in the Red Sea. "The continued Houthi threat to maritime navigation in the Red Sea is of growing concern. It risks exacerbating regional tensions, and further escalation, and also has potentially grave political, economic, and humanitarian ramifications for millions in Yemen and the region," said Khaled Khiari, UN assistant secretary-general for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific. The United Nations continues to encourage de-escalation and a cessation of attacks and threats so that traffic through the Red Sea can return to its normal state and the risk of Yemen being dragged into a regional conflagration be avoided, said Khiari. Briefing the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, Khiari said the situation in the region is alarming.
Israeli warplanes struck two urban refugee camps in central Gaza on Saturday. Israel says it is determined to pursue its unprecedented air and ground offensive until it has dismantled Hamas, a goal viewed by some as unattainable because of the group's deep roots in Palestinian society. Israel argues that ending the war now would mean victory for Hamas, a stance shared by the Biden administration, which at the same time urged Israel to do more to avoid harm to Palestinian civilians. The war has displaced some 85 percent of the Gaza Strip's 2.3 million people.
