More than six weeks into a Houthi offensive that has ended the relative calm of the 2022 truce, civilians in Yemen are being displaced in large numbers and cut off from supplies. As of October 20, the UN says more than 250,000 people have been displaced and describes access to the city of Taiz as "essentially blocked" after the Houthis closed the only supply route between Taiz and Aden. The Yemen Conflict Escalation is affecting Taiz governorate, the west coast, Lahj, Aden, Abyan and Marib.
Houthi attacks had been building since early August when, on September 3, Houthi forces attacked the western Taiz fronts of Maqbanah, Mawzaa and Jabal Habashi in what Al Jazeera called the fiercest fighting since 2022. In early to mid-September the Houthis took the Red Sea coast, including Mocha, according to Al Jazeera. The Presidential Leadership Council called a general mobilization on September 25, and after heavy fighting at Jabal Han on October 3–4, government forces launched a counter-offensive.
Yemen's Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization recorded 2,883 casualties between August 6 and September 12, including 504 deaths and 2,379 injuries, according to the IFRC. The UN human rights office has confirmed 32 civilian deaths in Taiz, including 14 children. The IOM had counted 201,217 displaced people as of October 7, and about 1,600 Yemeni refugees have reached Obock in Djibouti. Inside Taiz, the World Food Programme says flour stocks are nearly exhausted, 12 hospitals were reported to have about four days of fuel left, and cholera and measles outbreaks are ongoing.
Several aid groups are responding. The Yemen Red Crescent Society is responding under an IFRC emergency appeal launched on September 11 for CHF 15 million to reach 500,000 people, and the International Committee of the Red Cross has brought more than 500 tonnes of medical supplies to Sana'a and Aden since the escalation began. International Medical Corps supports 19 health facilities on the west coast and runs mobile medical teams, Mercy Corps is giving emergency cash to displaced families in Taiz, and CARE staff are working with displaced families in Aden.
To support families displaced by the fighting, visit the Yemen Conflict Escalation disaster page for responding organizations and donation links, or explore Disaster Relief Organizations to find other ways to help.
