UN says Yemen risks being dragged into Mideast conflict that could spiral out of control
UNITED NATIONS — Yemen is in danger of being dragged further into the EU military escalation in the Middle East This is becoming increasingly intense and could get out of hand, the UN special envoy to the Arab world’s poorest country said on Tuesday.
Hans Grundberg unfortunately told that to the UN Security Council Yemen is part of the escalation – and he warned that repeated attacks on international shipping by Houthi rebels have “significantly increased the risk of an environmental disaster in the Red Sea.”
Both Grundberg and the UN’s acting humanitarian chief, Joyce Msuya, urged the Iran-backed Houthis to halt their attacks on international shipping. into war Gaza.
The UN officials also demanded the release of dozens of UN personnel, personnel from non-governmental organizations and diplomatic missions, and members of civil society, most of whom had been held since June.
Msuya called the Houthis’ recent referral of a significant number of those detained for “criminal charges” unacceptable and the accusations against them false. She said three are U.N. staff — two from the Paris-based U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and one from the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Office. They were previously detained in 2021 and 2023.
Days after the June detentions, the Houthis said those detained were members of what they called an “an” “American-Israeli spy network,” an accusation strongly denied by the UN, NGO organizations, governments and others.
The Houthis have been locked in a civil war with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, since 2014, when they took control of the capital Sanaa and most of the north. Hopes for peace talks disappeared after the October 7 attack, which killed about 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostage, with about 100 still being held. . More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to local health authorities. They did not say how many fighters there were, but said women and children made up more than half of the fatalities.
Grundberg told council members: “Yemenis continue to yearn for and work for peace,” but he said hopes for progress to end escalating violence in the Middle East “seem remote.”
“Like many in the Middle East, their hopes for a better future now fall in the shadow of a potentially catastrophic regional conflagration,” he said.
The Houthis have attacked more than 80 merchant ships with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza began a year ago. She one ship seized And sank two in the campaign which also killed four sailors and severely disrupted traffic in the Red Sea, which once passed through $1 trillion worth of goods in a year.
Grundberg said the Houthi attack on the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion in August narrowly avoided an environmental disaster and warned that repeated attacks increase the risk of an environmental disaster.
In response to the Houthi attacks, a US-led coalition has carried out airstrikes in Yemen, and the Israelis have attacked the port of Hodeida, a key location for the delivery of aid and commercial goods, which are crucial as the country depends on imports.
Msuya said the UN is “very concerned” by the continued attacks on Hodeida and the smaller port of Ras Issa. The airstrikes damaged critical energy and port infrastructure, but she said both ports can receive commercial and humanitarian imports.
“However, power stations in Hodeida city are operating at very limited capacity,” Msuya said, and the UN is helping health facilities continue essential services.
Last month, Msuya told the council that the UN was scaling back its activities in Yemen in response to the Houthi crackdown on personnel working for the UN and other groups.
She warned the council on Tuesday that despite escalating needs, arbitrary detentions and “false accusations against them continue to significantly hamper our ability to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance in Yemen.”
“The humanitarian situation in Yemen continues to deteriorate, both in scale and severity,” Msuya said, and “hunger continues to rise.”
The number of Yemenis without enough to eat “rose to unprecedented levels” in August, and severe food shortages in Houthi-controlled areas have doubled since last year, she said.
Msuya said the UN appeal for $2.7 billion for Yemen this year to help 11.2 million people was 41% funded. She said $870 million is urgently needed, warning that without the additional funds, 9 million Yemenis across the country will not receive emergency food aid in the last quarter of this year.
As cholera continues to spread, with more than 203,000 suspected cases and more than 720 deaths since March, Msuya said cholera funding has already been exhausted and UN health partners have been forced to close 21 of 78 diarrhea treatment centers and 97 of to close the 423 oral rehydration centers. centers.