Yemeni Foreign Minister Afrah al-Zuba sent a letter to officials from the United Nations and international organizations, calling for the siege of Taiz to be lifted and humanitarian access to be guaranteed.
Al-Zuba’s letter was sent to the United Nations secretary-general, the president of the Security Council, the UN high commissioner for human rights, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN humanitarian affairs official. The Yemeni government also called on the UN Security Council to take urgent action to end the alleged Houthi siege of the city.
Warning over aid access in Taiz
Yemeni rights and humanitarian organizations allege that the Houthis have closed most roads leading to areas controlled by the government and have kept Taiz under siege since the conflict began in 2015. These organizations say aid convoys are being prevented from reaching civilians in the city and areas affected by the war.
The Houthis deny the accusations that Taiz is under siege and that aid deliveries are being blocked.
Al-Zuba argued that humanitarian conditions in Taiz governorate had deteriorated sharply because of Houthi attacks and the tightening of the siege. She said the latest escalation and the tightening of the siege around Taiz and its villages risked causing a humanitarian disaster that could affect more than 4 million people, including those under siege and people displaced from the al-Shamayatayn, al-Muwayasit and Jabal Habashi districts.
Taiz Governor Nabil Shamsan also said the humanitarian crisis in the city had worsened and called on the international community to intervene urgently. Shamsan said the closure of the main road between Taiz and Aden because of the fighting had made it difficult to deliver food, medicine and fuel to the city, while preventing the removal of garbage to the dumping site outside the city posed serious health and environmental risks. Government officials in Taiz also accused the Houthis of blocking gas supplies to the city.
Call for food, fuel and water
The Yemeni minister called for direct international pressure to immediately lift the siege and open all entrances to Taiz to civilians and supply chains. Al-Zuba also called for sustainable and unhindered access to food, fuel and drinking water to be guaranteed.
Al-Zuba called for violations to be monitored and documented and for accountability mechanisms to be strengthened. She said these steps were necessary to preserve evidence and ensure that those responsible did not go unpunished.
The Yemeni government called on the international community to take a clear position against practices aimed at depriving civilians of their livelihoods or using their humanitarian needs as a tool of pressure. The government said it would continue working with the United Nations, specialized agencies, humanitarian and rights organizations, and regional and international partners.
Military tensions in Yemen
Yemeni Prime Minister Shai Muhsin al-Zindani also said on Wednesday that the Houthis’ continued targeting of civilians and keeping Taiz under siege constituted a war crime that does not expire under the statute of limitations. Al-Zindani said those responsible would not escape accountability.
The call concerning Taiz came on the tenth day of the military operation called “Yemen Dawn,” which Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi said was aimed at retaking state institutions and taking control of the capital, Sanaa.
Yemen has experienced military tensions since July. The escalation is described as the largest since the period of calm that followed the ceasefire that began in April 2022.
The Houthis have controlled the capital, Sanaa, and several Yemeni provinces since September 2014. A Saudi Arabia-led military coalition intervened in March 2015 to support the Yemeni government.
