Yemen is enduring one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, with an estimated 85,000 children under five having died from starvation and malnutrition since the civil war began in 2014. The crisis, far worse than the hunger situation in Gaza, remains largely overlooked by the international community.
A Yemeni source opposed to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels told AP, “While Gaza has two million people, the Houthis impose a siege on 20 million in Yemen. This hunger is not collateral damage — it’s a deliberate tool for control and extortion.”
Since the Houthis seized large swaths of Yemen territory in 2014, the country has been devastated by conflict involving a Saudi-led coalition. Although a ceasefire was brokered in April 2022, fighting resumed late last year after the Houthis started disturbing the Red Sea shipping, further worsening the humanitarian disaster.
Between 2014 and 2018 only, aid group Save the Children estimated that roughly 85,000 children died from severe malnutrition without treatment. “Since then, reliable data is scarce because the Houthis restrict aid operations,” the source said.
UNICEF’s August 2024 report warned of a “critical” rise in malnutrition in government-held areas, particularly along the western coast near Houthi-controlled zones.
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), cases of severe malnutrition among children under five in these areas increased by 34% from 2023. Over 600,000 children are affected, including 120,000 with acute malnutrition. Some 223,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women were also severely malnourished last year.
Despite the widespread suffering in their territories, Houthi rebels condemned the international community’s response to hunger in Gaza but has remained silent on Yemen’s internal famine.
Aid groups accuse the Houthis of deliberately blocking humanitarian aid and diverting supplies for their own use. “The Houthis turn international aid into a source of funding for their war effort by stealing supplies and imposing taxes on imports,” the Yemeni source said. “This has left millions vulnerable to starvation and disease.”
The Houthis also use hunger as punishment against tribes that resist their authority and forcibly recruit fighters, including children, exploiting Yemen’s ongoing conflicts “This is the greatest humanitarian tragedy of our time, fuelled by a political decision to destabilize Yemen and make it an Iranian proxy,” the source said. “The international community must act now to prevent food from becoming a weapon of war.”
Humanitarian organizations warn that funding for Yemen’s relief efforts is critically low. A coalition of 116 aid groups recently reported that Yemen’s 2025 humanitarian program is funded at less than 10%, severely limiting aid delivery. The situation is compounded by the detention of UN and aid workers by the Houthis, with some dying in custody.
Doctors and hospital staff report that infighting and corruption within Houthi-controlled institutions are crippling healthcare amid disease outbreaks. “We are losing staff to arbitrary dismissals, and pro-Houthi cronies replace trained professionals,” said a Yemeni medical worker speaking on condition of anonymity. “This will worsen an already catastrophic health situation.”
The Norwegian Refugee Council estimates 15 million Yemenis lack sufficient access to clean water, deepening the crisis.
As Yemen’s millions face starvation, disease, and displacement, this crisis remains largely ignored internationally, overshadowed by other global conflicts despite its catastrophic scale.