New York – Sana'a: Europe and the Arabs

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called on all parties in Yemen to de-escalate the conflict and "spare the Yemeni people further suffering," as the country witnesses an escalation of hostilities that has led to an alarming rise in civilian casualties.

Reports indicate that 17 civilians have been killed in attacks by the Houthi group on government-controlled areas since the 6th of this month, while two civilians were killed in Houthi-controlled areas in late July. In his call for restraint, Türk stressed that the Yemeni people "have suffered immensely from the devastating legacy of years of conflict, displacement, and humanitarian crisis," and urged all parties to immediately cease any actions that "could plunge Yemen back into full-blown conflict." This was reported in the UN Daily News, a copy of which was received Tuesday morning. Houthi attacks have targeted the Al-Jaw Al-Naseem camp for internally displaced persons in Marib, injuring six civilians, including a child, as well as the port of Mocha in Taiz governorate, and a cargo ship in the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The High Commissioner stressed the need for all parties to adhere to international humanitarian law and international human rights law, refrain from targeting civilians and civilian objects, and "take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian casualties and damage to civilian objects."

Turk emphasized that attacks on civilian infrastructure "exacerbate the suffering of civilians at a time when at least 18 million Yemenis are already facing food insecurity."

Just days earlier, two UN officials warned that Yemen is at greater risk of returning to large-scale conflict than at any time since the UN-brokered ceasefire of 2022, and that the humanitarian crisis remains unchanged, with hunger on the rise, health services collapsing, and families exhausting their last coping mechanisms.

This came in a briefing by the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, and the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, to a Security Council meeting held on Thursday to discuss the situation in Yemen. Grundberg noted the escalation of military activity along the front lines and the renewed attacks by the Houthis on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which he described as risking further entanglement of Yemen in the wider regional conflict.

He explained that the truce, which had maintained relative calm along the Yemeni front lines, was designed as a means, not an end in itself. Its primary objective was to pave the way for negotiations aimed at a comprehensive settlement of the conflict.

He cautioned that without progress on the political track, the relative calm created by the truce could not last indefinitely.

Grundberg stated, "For Yemenis, a renewed war would once again put ordinary aspirations—such as education, employment, and building a decent life—at the mercy of fighting. It would mean sending a new generation to the front lines, instead of giving them the opportunity to reimagine and shape their country's future. For this Council and the entire international community, it would mean igniting yet another conflict in a region already rife with strife."