On Tuesday, the World Food Program (WFP) said it had paused general food distribution in north Yemen due to limited funding and disagreement with local authorities over how to focus on the poorest there. The WFP said the decision was taken in consultation with donors and came after a year of negotiations, and no agreement had been reached to reduce the number of people served to 6.5 million from 9.5 million. Food stocks in the areas under the Houthi administration are almost depleted and resuming food assistance could take up to four months due to supply chain disruption, the UN agency said in a statement. Sanaa and northern Yemeni regions are under the control of the Iran-aligned Houthi group, which has been at war since 2014 with a Saudi-backed government that is based in the southern port city of Aden. The WFP had already reduced rations in Yemen since 2022 due to critical funding gaps and global inflation that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking is traveling to the Gulf this week to continue intensive US diplomacy and regional coordination to safeguard maritime security in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden amid Iranian and Houthi attacks on international shipping threatening almost two years of joint progress to end the war in Yemen. The United States is working with key maritime partners to secure safe passage for global shipping. Special Envoy Lenderking is working with the United Nations, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and other international partners to support a resolution to the Yemen conflict as soon as possible and alleviate the suffering the conflict has caused. Special Envoy Lenderking will meet with regional, international, and UN partners in the Gulf to discuss the necessary steps to secure a durable ceasefire and launch an inclusive, UN-led Yemeni-Yemeni political dialogue, while continuing efforts to ease the economic and humanitarian crises.
The Gulf Cooperation Council summit urges the Houthi group to positively engage with international and UN efforts to end the war in Yemen. The leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries reaffirm their commitment to preserving the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of the Yemeni Republic. The concluding statement of the GCC in Doha welcomed the ongoing efforts by Saudi Arabia and Oman to revive the political process, aiming for a comprehensive and sustainable political solution in Yemen and a ceasefire. The UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, is urged in the statement to take a firm stance against Houthi practices, which oppose the peace efforts of the United Nations and other countries in the region. The statement also welcomes UN Security Council Resolution 2707, dated November 14, 2023, reaffirming commitment to Yemen's unity, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity. It renews measures freezing assets and travel bans until November 15, 2024.
A World Health Organization official in Gaza said on Tuesday the situation was deteriorating by the hour as Israeli bombing has intensified in the south of the Palestinian enclave around the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah. "The situation is getting worse by the hour," Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative in Gaza, told reporters via video link. "There's intensified bombing going on all around, including here in the southern areas, Khan Younis and even in Rafah." Peeperkorn said the humanitarian aid reaching Gaza was "way too little" and said the WHO was deeply concerned about the vulnerability of the health system in the densely populated enclave as more people move further south to escape the bombing.
