As fighting intensifies across Yemen and attacks on civilian infrastructure threaten regional stability and vital Red Sea shipping routes, senior United Nations officials briefing the Security Council today called for an end to hostilities, unhindered humanitarian access and a return to negotiations.
“Ultimately, gains on the battlefield cannot substitute for the negotiations that will be required to settle the conflict,” the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, stressed, as other humanitarian officials warned of mounting civilian casualties, widespread child malnutrition and an increasingly overwhelmed aid response.
Adopted in 2014, Security Council resolution 2140 established targeted sanctions against individuals undermining Yemen’s peace and stability, including asset freezes and travel bans, and created a Panel of Experts to monitor implementation.
Intense fighting has continued in the highlands west and south of Taiz city and across into Lahj, Mr. Grundberg said. Just this week, the Government launched a large-scale counter-offensive and has reported retaking areas around the Bab al-Mandab. Ansar Allah has also carried out attacks against civilian and energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, which killed and injured civilians.
Ansar Allah’s threats against Saudi-linked commercial ships in the Red Sea undermine the freedom of navigation of every country, he said, also warning: “These threats are becoming enmeshed with the broader confrontation over control of maritime trade routes and the stresses on the international energy market”. He also said that 72 UN colleagues remain detained, and meaningful progress towards their release has yet to be made, emphasizing: “Their release is especially urgent”.
Displacement at Highest Level Since 2022 Truce
“Today, I must warn the Council that Yemen’s humanitarian crisis has sharply worsened,” said Mohamed Yahya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, underscoring: “Further inaction will cost lives.”
“More than 200,000 people have been displaced across Yemen since the beginning of August,” he said, adding that it represents the highest level of new displacement since the 2022 truce. Further, nearly 4,000 people face “an impossible choice”, to stay risking their lives or leave and lose everything, having fled across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to seek safety in Djibouti and Somalia. “Women and children are paying the highest price,” he stressed.
Citing figures of verified incidents from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, he said that, since August, at least 46 civilians have been killed and more than 130 injured. “More than half of those killed and nearly one third of those injured were children,” he said.
UN Providing Emergency Assistance in Face of Widespread Malnourishment, Collapsed Health System, Increased Risk of Disease
Outlining the alarming humanitarian situation, he pointed to 2.2 million children under five being acutely malnourished; 250 school closures depriving 137,000 children from access to feeding programmes; a health system close to collapse; and an increased risk of disease, amid rising cases of suspected measles and cholera.
Despite this, the UN has provided emergency assistance to 131,000 displaced people, he noted, voicing alarm over the country’s humanitarian appeal being only 22 per cent funded, and the arbitrary detention of 72 United Nations colleagues. “Open the roads. Let humanitarians do their job. Let people access the relief they have been driven to need,” he stressed.
Even before this escalation, 2.2 million children aged under 5 were acutely malnourished in Yemen, including 500,000 children suffering from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition, said Inger Ashing, Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children International.
“Children are being hit as they flee to find safety”, she added, underscoring that Save the Children has provided medical care for children with blast injuries, including shrapnel wounds to the eyes, abdominal wounds, broken limbs and head injuries.
Council Must Use Its Influence to Protect Children
Calling on parties to apply a “child-sensitive lens”, she urged donors to provide funding so that education, health and other key services can continue to function even amid the escalation in fighting.
“The decisions taken by this Council will help determine whether Yemen's children inherit another generation of conflict, or the chance to build a different future,” she said, urging Member States and the Council to act and to “use your influence to protect children”.
Delegates Condemn Houthi Attacks
In the ensuing discussion, the United Kingdom’s delegate condemned the Houthis’ “dangerous escalation”, highlighting her country’s $137 million humanitarian commitment this year. Calling for the release of all detained UN and humanitarian personnel, she urged Member States to support the sanctions regime put in place by Council resolution 2140 (2014).
The representative of the United States condemned the Houthis’ attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure and urged Iran to end its support for the group. “When this Council renews the Yemen sanctions regime in mid-November, it must act on the Panel of Experts’ long-standing recommendations to take steps to cut off the flow of these items to the Houthis,” he stressed, referring to dual-use components and precursor chemicals.
Pakistan’s delegate condemned attacks on Saudi infrastructure, reaffirming his country’s “unwavering solidarity” with Riyadh. Bahrain’s delegate, similarly, denounced the targeting by the Houthis of sacred Islamic sites, asking: “When will the Council move beyond condemnations, the echoes of which quickly fade, to practical measures which will have a visible impact on peace and security in Yemen?”
Saudi Arabia’s delegate condemned the 8 October attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, which killed three Saudi civilians, warning of threats to regional security and global shipping. Calling for stronger sanctions enforcement, he highlighted his country’s provision of more than $12.6 billion in economic and development assistance and $4.5 billion in humanitarian aid to Yemen between 2012 and 2026.
Operation Dawn of Yemen Aims to Restore State Institutions, End War
The representative of Yemen said escalating attacks by the Houthis have threatened civilians, regional stability and international navigation. The Houthis have undermined successive peace initiatives, he went on to add, underscoring that the launch of Operation Dawn of Yemen aims to restore State institutions. “The objective of this operation is to end the war, to recover security, stability and peace in Yemen and the region,” he emphasized.
However, “the threat of the Houthis is no longer an internal Yemeni affair that can be contained within our borders”, he warned, citing threats to Red Sea shipping and alleged cooperation with Al-Shabaab. Calling on the Council to curb weapons smuggling and financing networks, he urged increased economic assistance. “A real peace” restores control of State institutions over the national territory, he concluded.