Fighting persists despite peace and humanitarian efforts in Yemen leaving the civilians to bear the brunt, the International Committee of the Red Cross has said.
The humanitarian situation has alarmingly deteriorated in the cities of Saada, Sanaa, Taiz and Aden where ground fighting between pro-Houthi and pro-government forces as well as Saudi-led airstrikes continued even during a recent five-day humanitarian ceasefire. The ceasefire ran during May 12-17.
In these cities, violence has resulted in an influx of injured people into hospitals, displaced many people leaving them more insecure than before and putting the national economy on the brink of collapse, it said.
"Amidst incessant fighting, civilians are under more and more pressure every day due to violence, lack of electricity and fuel shortages," said the head of the ICRC delegation in Yemen, Antoine Grand. "However, local ICRC-brokered ceasefires have allowed joint ICRC- Yemen Red Crescent Society (YRCS) teams to provide emergency aid to people trapped in and around battlefields."
Meanwhile, the ICRC is exerting major efforts including dialog with the conflict parties inside and outside Yemen in order to guarantee adherence to international humanitarian law over protection of civilians and infrastructure including medical personnel and facilities, the statement said.
The ICRC and YRCS have provided food, clean water, healthcare and other essential humanitarian services to more than 720,000 people across Yemen, it concluded.
A few days ago, Oxfam revealed that recent escalation of violence has left two thirds of the Yemeni people, around 16 million, without clean water.
Saudi Arabia led the Arab military operation against the Houthi militants on March 26.
The operation followed ousting the transition government by the Houthis.
Part of the operation was a blockade on all the country's ports leaving the people to face the worst lacks of key supplies especially foodstuffs and fuels.