Human rights organizations demand an end to the siege and an immediate cessation of indiscriminate attacks; Ministry of Health warns of a shutdown of life-saving services.
Geneva – October 10, 2026
The human rights organizations signatory to this statement warn of a dangerous deterioration in the humanitarian situation across Yemen’s Taiz Governorate, driven by the resumption of the siege imposed by the Houthi group, the closure of primary and secondary roads and access points, and the obstruction of food, medicine, and fuel supplies. These measures coincide with an escalation in military operations initiated by the group on September 3. The organizations emphasize that the continuation of these restrictions jeopardizes the lives of millions of civilians and portends the collapse of essential services. Holding the group fully responsible for the blockade and its humanitarian repercussions, they call for an immediate lifting of the siege and a cessation of indiscriminate attacks against the city and its residential neighborhoods.
According to data compiled by SAM for Rights and Liberties, the resident population in the affected districts stands at approximately 4,352,600 people, in addition to substantial numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Reports indicate that road closures have disrupted commercial traffic and transport networks, depleted food reserves, triggered price surges for essential commodities, and severely diminished families’ capacity to secure food, water, and medical care.
The governorate requires approximately 12,352,500 liters of gasoline and 9,720,000 liters of diesel per month to sustain transportation and operate critical public facilities. The severe shortage of petroleum products has disrupted fueling stations, increased transport fares, and threatened the functioning of hospitals, health centers, and water pumping facilities, compounding the risk of depriving civilians of services indispensable to their survival.
In a statement issued on October 10, 2026, the Yemeni Ministry of Public Health and Population warned of an impending health and humanitarian catastrophe in the city of Taiz, noting that stocks of medicines, intravenous fluids, medical supplies, and fuel across health facilities are nearing total depletion due to the continued blockade and hindered supply lines.
The Ministry affirmed that this crisis threatens to shut down emergency rooms, surgical suites, intensive care units (ICUs), dialysis centers, and neonatal incubators, placing patients, the wounded, pregnant women, and newborns in direct peril. Furthermore, fuel depletion threatens to shut down electrical generators, paralyze ambulance fleets, and disrupt cold chains required for medicines and vaccines, risking severe complications and preventable deaths.
Holding the Houthi movement accountable for the siege and its impacts, the Ministry demanded the opening of supply routes and the provision of safe passage for patients, ambulances, and health personnel. It urged the United Nations and humanitarian health partners to urgently deliver medicines, medical solutions, oxygen, clinical consumables, and fuel—in coordination with the Ministry and the Taiz Health Office—prioritizing life-saving interventions.
In the water sector, the local water and sanitation utility requires approximately 20,000 liters of diesel monthly to operate wells and pump municipal water. SAM warned that fuel shortages, difficulties in water transport via tanker trucks, and deteriorating sewage infrastructure severely compromise access to safe potable water and elevate the risk of waterborne disease outbreaks, particularly in densely populated and displaced communities.
According to needs assessments obtained by SAM, securing emergency food reserves for roughly 3 million people for a six-month period requires approximately 189,000 metric tons of wheat and flour, 36,000 tons of rice, 32,400 tons of sugar, 16,500 tons of cooking oil, and 61,500 tons of dairy products, alongside meat, poultry, fish, and vegetables.
Emergency contingency needs also encompass 33 million liters of gasoline, 21 million liters of diesel, and over 5.5 million domestic cooking gas cylinders. These figures reflect strategic planning and response estimates rather than confirmed market deficits, and differ in scope from the governorate’s routine monthly consumption assessments.
The signatory organizations emphasized that limited strategic reserves and ongoing disruptions to commercial supply lines continue to erode the capacity of local markets to replenish food shortages. Concurrently, escalating prices and falling household incomes are forcing the most vulnerable families to curtail essential consumption, compounding hardship for children, women, patients, and IDPs.
The organizations recalled that Article 14 of Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions of 1977 explicitly prohibits the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, prohibiting the attack, destruction, removal, or rendering useless of objects indispensable to civilian survival, including food stocks and drinking water installations. Furthermore, Article 18 governs humanitarian relief, and customary international humanitarian law obligates all parties to an armed conflict to allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of impartial humanitarian assistance.
They stressed the absolute prohibition against targeting civilians and civilian objects, as well as launching indiscriminate attacks, reiterating the mandatory observance of the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution. The organizations underlined that the presence of military objectives within the city does not strip civilians of their protected status, nor does it justify starvation or collective punishment. They called for impartial investigations into attacks and supply blockades, the identification of individuals responsible for issuing and executing such orders, and the examination of individual and command criminal responsibility in accordance with applicable international law.
Urgent Demands
The signatory organizations urge the Houthi group to:
The organizations call upon the Yemeni Government and local authorities, in coordination with UN agencies and humanitarian partners, to:
The organizations call upon UN agencies and international donors to:
The organizations conclude that civilian protection demands urgent, tangible action, and that food, water, medicine, and healthcare must never be exploited as tools of military leverage or political bargaining.
Signatory Organizations: