A UN official announced that the death toll from cholera in Yemen had risen to 720 people since last March. This was reported by the Acting Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Humanitarian Affairs, Joyce Msuya, during a session of the UN Security Council in New York, on Tuesday evening, which discussed developments in the Yemen crisis.

Msuya said, “Cholera continues to spread in Yemen, where more than 203,000 suspected cases of the disease have been reported since last March,” adding that during the same period, “more than 720 people lost their lives due to cholera, with women and girls making up 53.” % of cases.

Regarding the humanitarian situation in Yemen, Msuya said: “We are very concerned about the effects of the humanitarian crisis, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation throughout the Middle East,” and continued: “We are deeply disturbed by the ongoing attacks launched from and against Yemen (the Houthi conflict). With the American coalition), which caused damage to vital infrastructure, including the energy infrastructure and ports in Hodeidah and Ras Issa (referring to Israel’s raids), stressing that “against the backdrop of the regional escalation, the humanitarian situation in Yemen has continued to deteriorate, both in terms of volume or intensity, and hunger continues to increase.”

On August 27, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced that 668 people had died of cholera in Yemen since the beginning of 2024, in addition to more than 172,000 suspected cases of the disease. 

Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation, with American support, has been waging a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip. Since last September 23, it has expanded the scope of the war to include Lebanon, and from time to time carries out bloody air strikes on Yemen and Syria.

On July 10, the Yemeni government announced a decline in international funding for the health sector by about 70%.

For more than two years, Yemen has witnessed a lull in the war that began about ten years ago between forces loyal to the legitimate government and the forces of the Houthi group, which has controlled governorates and cities, including the capital, Sanaa (north), since September 21, 2014. The war destroyed most sectors in Yemen, Especially the health sector, and it has caused one of the most disastrous humanitarian crises in the world, according to the United Nations.