Almost two-thirds of the population of Yemen, 16 million, have become without a clean water supply and sanitation, Oxfam warned on Tuesday.
People are being forced to drink unsafe water as a result of the disintegration of local water systems, bringing the real risk of life-threatening illnesses, such as malaria, cholera, and diarrhoea, it said in a statement.
The humanitarian situation has recently fast deteriorated due to the escalation of Saudi-led airstrikes against the Houthi militants and clashes between pro-government and pro-Houthi forces in several Yemeni cities.
A blockade on the country's ports, which has affected all imports leaving the people to face the worst lacks of supplies especially fuels, is making the crisis worse.
The absence of imports is now pushing food and fuel prices out of reach of even more people, Oxfam said.
The number of the Yemenis without clean drinking water has increased by 3 million because of the recent escalation, it said, adding that data from four governorates shows that the price of trucked water has now almost tripled.
The Yemenis without clean water are equivalent to the populations of Berlin, London, Paris and Rome combined, all rotting under heaps of garbage in the streets, broken sewage pipes and without clean water for the seventh consecutive week, it elaborated.
A five-day humanitarian ceasefire ran during May 12-17. However, aid could not reach many of those in conflict-hit areas because insufficient aid was allowed in and violence by the Houthis including preventing aid delivery to some cities persisted during the truce.
Before this latest escalation in the conflict, around 12 million Yemenis, half the population, were facing hunger and without access to clean drinking water.
Oxfam said it is continuing its operations in Al Hodeidah and Hajjah, where we have provided clean water to 80,000 beneficiaries since the escalation of the crisis.
Moreover, it is also working with local authorities to ensure provision of clean water to one million people in and around Aden.