Key Facts

• The siege of Taiz and nearby areas intensified in early October after Houthi forces advanced around the city and cut off the last major supply route into government-held areas.
• The Yemeni government says nearly two million people in Taiz have faced more than a month of restrictions on food, safe drinking water, medicines and fuel.
• Human Rights Watch said the siege may amount to the war crime of using starvation as a method of warfare.
• The Houthis deny responsibility for road closures and blame Yemeni government forces.
• The World Food Programme said it could not reach more than 600,000 people in Taiz who depend on humanitarian assistance.
• The UN humanitarian affairs office said nearly 250,000 people had lost access to essential health care, including more than 186,000 children under five.
• The UN office reported more than 1,400 acute diarrhoea and suspected cholera cases in one week and said 12 hospitals risked closing or had reduced services.
• Taiz health officials recorded 5,642 cases across three disease categories in a four-week period, including 5,228 acute watery diarrhoea cases, 232 suspected dengue cases and 182 suspected cholera cases.