Taiz hospitals on verge of collapse as Houthis reinforce siege: Yemen government | News on humanitarian crises

Medical services in Taiz are at risk of closure as fuel, medicines and supplies fall alarmingly due to the Houthi blockade.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government has warned of an “impending health and humanitarian catastrophe” in the besieged southwestern city of Taiz as the Houthis continue their siege and “block essential supplies.”

Yemen’s Ministry of Public Health and Population said in a statement Saturday that medicines, intravenous solutions, medical supplies and fuel available in the city’s health facilities were “close to running out.”

Emergency care, surgeries, intensive care, dialysis services and neonatal services could be forced to halt if the situation persists, putting patients, injured people, pregnant women and newborns “in immediate danger”.

Fuel shortages also threaten power generators, ambulances and cold chains that keep medicines and vaccines usable, which could lead to “serious complications and preventable deaths”, the ministry said.

He demanded that the siege be immediately lifted and supply routes reopened, with safe passage for patients, ambulances, health workers and aid.

He called on the United Nations and humanitarian organizations to “deliver medicines, intravenous fluids, medical supplies, oxygen and fuel” to health facilities in the city.

“Every delay increases the risk of service interruption and loss of life,” the ministry said.

Renewed headquarters

The Houthis, an Iranian-backed armed group also known as Ansar Allah, seized Yemen’s capital Sanaa by force in 2014 and later imposed their own government. They control the north and northeast of the country.

Taiz suffered a devastating Houthi siege between 2015 and 2016, when Yemeni government forces were confined to an enclave in the city center.

The siege was lifted in 2016, although the Houthis maintained a partial blockade at other access points. In 2024, they agreed to reopen a road from the east, but it was closed after fighting resumed.

The new headquarters took shape at the beginning of October.

The Houthis launched an offensive along the Red Sea coast in Taiz governorate in September, capturing the port city of Mocha, and by October 4 they had taken the town of At Turbah, cutting the last main road between Taiz city and other government-controlled areas.

Yemeni government forces, supported by Saudi Arabia, launched a counter-offensive in early October.

Nabil Jamil, director general of the Yemeni government’s planning and development office in Taiz governorate, told Al Jazeera that the current siege is “more comprehensive and its impact more serious than in 2015.”

He said about 2.8 million people live in government-controlled areas of the governorate, as well as 200,000 recently displaced people.

Fuel has become scarce and on the black market the price of a 20 liter (5.2 gallon) can of gasoline has increased from 30,000 Yemeni riyals ($19) to 90,000 ($58).

“We are still waiting for a response or intervention on the ground,” Jamil said.

The United Nations refugee agency and the World Health Organization have warned that the fighting is putting Yemen’s fragile health system at risk.

“Civilians should never be used as leverage in any conflict,” said Nabil Sharyan, lawyer and director of the Justice for Rights and Development Organization.