Drought, Floods Push Yemenis to Breaking Point

Yemenis on the outskirts of Sanaa gather to get clean water from a tanker provided by a donor (EPA)
Yemenis on the outskirts of Sanaa gather to get clean water from a tanker provided by a donor (EPA)
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Drought, Floods Push Yemenis to Breaking Point

Yemenis on the outskirts of Sanaa gather to get clean water from a tanker provided by a donor (EPA)
Yemenis on the outskirts of Sanaa gather to get clean water from a tanker provided by a donor (EPA)

The International Committee of The Red Cross (ICRC) warned on Tuesday that the climate crisis is pushing Yemeni communities already reeling from almost eight years of conflict to the breaking point.

Yemeni farmers, relying on agriculture and livestock for their survival, have seen their livelihoods destroyed by extreme drought, devastating flooding and grinding conflict, making it harder for them to make ends meet, ICRC said in a report.

This comes at a time when the number of Houthi mine victims in agricultural areas has risen to more than 300 civilians over the past months, according to UN reports.

ICRC said flooding in recent months has had a devastating impact on the Yemeni agricultural sector, destroying crops and moving explosive remnants of war to agricultural areas.

“With Yemen facing a devastating food security crisis, this will only further exacerbate an already alarming situation,” it said.

The Committee revealed that currently, approximately 19 million people in Yemen are unable to meet their daily food needs countrywide, compared to 16.2 million last year.

“That’s about 63% of the total population, up from 53% last year,” it affirmed.

Also, the climate crisis and conflict are forcing more families to abandon their homes, ICRC said, adding that over 3.3 million people in Yemen are currently estimated to be displaced from their homes.

“It is not uncommon for people to flee their homes seeking safety from conflict to then leave again because the ground cannot be farmed,” the Committee said.

In some areas, unexploded ordnances lurk in what should be farmland, making it dangerous for people to attend to their land.

Also, water scarcity across Yemen, exacerbated by the protracted conflict and several years of droughts, has limited access to safe water for 17.8 million people, the Committee said.

It warned that the droughts have forced an increasing number of farmers to abandon their profession.

ICRC’s report also showed that Yemen, like many conflict-affected countries, is disproportionately impacted by climate change and it called for greater support to help people cope with and adapt to climate change in countries like Yemen.

The report said ICRC works in close collaboration with Yemen Red Crescent Society to support the most vulnerable rural communities to sustain their livelihoods.

In 2021, more than 112,500 livestock keepers benefited from livestock vaccination and treatment campaigns, while in 2022 thousands of farmers have benefitted from multi-purpose cash grants, micro-economic initiative projects or coffee or wheat seed donations.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs revealed that civilian casualties increased by 20 percent since the April 2 truce due to Houthi landmines compared to the previous six months.

Until September 2022, landmines and unexploded ordnance killed 95 people and injured 248 in Yemen, the UN said.

Mines mostly affect frontline areas in Hodeidah and Jawf governorates.



Israeli Forces Have Completed Encirclement of Gaza’s Rafah, Military Says

 Displaced Palestinians flee from east to west of Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area, Friday April 11, 2025. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians flee from east to west of Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area, Friday April 11, 2025. (AP)
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Israeli Forces Have Completed Encirclement of Gaza’s Rafah, Military Says

 Displaced Palestinians flee from east to west of Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area, Friday April 11, 2025. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians flee from east to west of Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area, Friday April 11, 2025. (AP)

Israeli forces have completed the encirclement of Gaza's Rafah, the military said on Saturday, part of an announced plan to seize more areas of the enclave, accompanied by large-scale evacuations of the population.

The military has issued repeated evacuation warnings to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians across Rafah since it resumed operations in Gaza on March 18, forcing them into a diminishing space limited by the sea.

Israel said on April 2 that troops had begun seizing an area it called the Morag Axis, a reference to a former Israeli settlement once located between the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have since fled Rafah, a 60 square km area that borders Egypt to the south.

"Over the past 24 hours, the 36th Division's troops completed the establishment of the Morag route, separating Rafah and Khan Younis," the military said on Saturday.

The Israeli offensive in Gaza was launched after Palestinian group Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 50,000 Palestinians have since been killed in the offensive, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave. Most of the population has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.

Israel restarted the offensive in March after effectively abandoning a ceasefire in place since January. The campaign will continue, it says, until the remaining 59 hostages are freed and Hamas is stamped out of Gaza.

Hamas says it will free hostages only as part of a deal that will end the war and has rejected demands to lay down its arms. A Hamas delegation was expected in Cairo over the weekend to discuss new truce proposals, according to a source in the group.