Published on: 2026-10-23
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
October 23, 2026 Humanitarian Aid
In the Yemeni city of Taiz, the humanitarian crisis is rapidly worsening, warn UN humanitarian agencies. The city is surrounded by Houthi forces who are fighting government troops on the country’s western coast.
“Taiz has been cut off from the outside world for 20 days now… Increasingly, we are facing the fact that because of fighting, we cannot get there, and people cannot get out of there,” said Jens Laerke, a representative of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). “Access roads are blocked, and during this period, very little fuel, food, and other goods have arrived in the city,” he added.
The escalation between the Houthis, who control Yemen’s capital Sanaa, and the government based in Aden began in early September. It ended the relative calm that had settled after the 2022 ceasefire.
The World Food Programme (WFP) reported that more than 800,000 people in Yemen have been cut off from aid.
“We are desperately trying to restore access in Taiz and continue to support broader operations across Yemen,” said WFP representative Azfar Din.
Water is getting more expensive
As Laerke explained, particular concern is caused by the water shortage in Taiz: most residents of the city obtain it with the help of water carriers.
“The roads are closed, there is almost no diesel fuel left for water trucks, so water production in the city has been reduced by about half. And the delivered water has become almost three times more expensive. Imagine how it feels for people trapped there,” he told reporters at a briefing in Geneva.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has expressed growing concern about the scale of hunger in Yemen. In Taiz alone, the agency has surveyed more than 168,000 children since the beginning of the year. More than 52,000 of them have been found to suffer from acute malnutrition, including a severe form affecting over 11,500.
UNICEF has pre-positioned nearly 8,000 boxes of ready-to-use therapeutic food for children with severe acute malnutrition in Taiz governorate. This will be enough for about three months. However, as noted by UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires, access restrictions and supply route disruptions hinder partners from delivering supplies and families from safely reaching treatment centers.
Forced displacement
From June 7 to October 19, 2026, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) registered 258,679 displaced persons, the majority in the Taiz and Lahij provinces. Many families are forced to move repeatedly and seek refuge in already overcrowded camps and communities.
In addition, as of October 17, 3,836 Yemeni citizens have arrived in Djibouti.
According to available information, since August at least 1,574 people have died in the Yemen conflict, and another 6,939 have been injured.
Please be advised; This information is raw content obtained directly from the information source. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.