UN warns of deepening hunger crisis in war-torn Yemen, urges renewed peace efforts
The United Nations has issued a warning on Wednesday that more than 17 million people in Yemen are facing hunger. It also reported that over a million children under the age of five suffering from life-threatening acute malnutrition and the food crisis in the conflict-ravaged country has worsened since late 2023 and this could deteriorate further in the coming months.
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told the Security Council that the number of people going hungry in Yemen could rise to over 18 million by September. The number of children with acute malnutrition may increase to 1.2 million by early next year,with risk of irreversible physical and cognitive damage.
Fletcher said, “This unfolding crisis is made worse by a sharp decline in global funding,” he noted. The UN’s $2.5 billion humanitarian appeal for Yemen in 2025 has received just $222 million so far, only 9% of the target.
UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg, briefing the Council via video, warned of renewed instability following Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s capital and major ports. The Houthis conflict has also given rise to the crisis.
While the Houthis have said they will continue targeting vessels in the Red Sea until the war in Gaza ends, Grundberg cautioned, “Yemen must not be drawn deeper into regional crises that threaten to unravel its already fragile situation.”
“The longer this conflict drags on, the deeper the divisions will become,” he warned, adding that both sides must demonstrate a commitment to peace, including through confidence-building measures such as the long-delayed release of all conflict-related detainees.
“The stakes for Yemen are simply too high,” Grundberg said. “Its future depends on our collective resolve to shield it from further suffering and restore hope and dignity to its people.”
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
