Officials and experts have warned of the increasing number of hungry people due to the crimes and violations of the Houthi group against the Yemeni people, which portend a humanitarian catastrophe with food insecurity. A World Bank report stated that the number of hungry people in Yemen has increased since the Houthi coup from 6 million to 17 million people, which It portends a great disaster.

Director of the Human Rights Office in the Sanaa Municipality, Fahmi Al-Zubayri, stressed that the number of hungry people is increasing and the extent of poverty in Yemen has expanded frighteningly since the Houthis took control of state institutions in 2014 and overthrew legitimacy and ignited war in the country.

Al-Zubairi believes, in a statement to Al-Ittihad, that the Houthi group is using starvation as a weapon of war, preventing the arrival of humanitarian aid, and restricting freedom of movement between regions, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, in addition to imposing a stifling siege on the city of Taiz for 9 years. He continued, "The Houthi group prevents charities and merchants from distributing aid to the needy, imposes severe restrictions on them, and practices threats and terrorism against them, in addition to seizing cash and food aid provided by international organizations, and providing it to its members."

Al-Zubairi pointed out that among the Houthi methods of starving civilians is plundering the revenues of the Yemeni state and its institutions, the revenues of ports and telecommunications companies, and imposing large taxes and financial royalties against the people, merchants, institutions, and stores, which is a systematic policy that the group deliberately intends to starve the Yemenis.

International reports indicate that 21 million Yemenis are in need of urgent and emergency aid, at a time when the Houthi violations against the Yemeni people and the systematic looting of their property continue so that it can control them and forcibly engage them in its own projects, which contradict the constitution and laws.

For his part, Undersecretary of the Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights, Nabil Abdel Hafeez, said that the war in Yemen has greatly affected the increase in the percentage of hungry people and those below the poverty line to more than 80%, indicating that the Houthis deliberately cut the salaries of employees in areas under their control, which are a large percentage. Approximately 50% of the population of Yemen, to increase the state of poverty and famine due to their position on the war.

Abdul Hafeez indicated in a statement to Al-Ittihad that the Houthi group looted all the money in the Central Bank in Sanaa, which seriously weakened the economic situation, pointing out that the continuous military operations and attacks on civilian areas led to an increase in cases of forced migration until it reached The number of displaced people outside their areas reached 4.5 million people.

He added that these violations and crimes committed by the Houthi group constituted a deliberate state of impoverishment and starvation, which led about half of the population of Yemen to extreme poverty and famine, stressing that we are facing a deliberate policy of the group, so that people remain busy with making a living.

Abdul Hafeez warned of the dangers of this crisis caused by the Houthis, especially since the amount of international aid reaching the beneficiaries does not exceed 30% of the amounts provided to Yemen, calling for the need for there to be a strategy followed by the international community and the government to deliver aid to the beneficiaries, and to work serious to alleviate the crisis.