28-03-2024 08:12 PM Jerusalem Timing

UN Urges Saudi to Lift Yemen Blockade

UN Urges Saudi to Lift Yemen Blockade

The United Nations Security Council called on Saudi Arabia to lift its blockade on Yemen, almost three months following it brutal aggression against the Arab impoverished country.

The United Nations Security Council called on Saudi Arabia to lift its blockade on Yemen, almost three months following it brutal aggression against the Arab impoverished country.

In a unanimous statement released on Thursday, the UNSC stressed that ships carrying food, fuel and other vital supplies must be permitted to enter ports in Yemen which is on the brink of famine.Yemen destruction

There is "an urgent need for ongoing commercial supplies to enter Yemen as a humanitarian imperative."

The UN envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, had earlier called for an immediate ceasefire in Yemen, saying that some 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and one million people have been displaced in the fighting in the country.

“We are one step away from famine," the UN envoy said, adding, “We want to really find a way to lessen the suffering of the population.”

Saudi Arabia has imposed an aerial and naval blockade on Yemen amid its deadly airstrikes on the impoverished Arab country.

"It's vital that we get commercial ships back in," said UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien.

Yemen has been since March 26 under brutal aggression by Saudi-led coalition. Thousands have been martyred and injured in the attack, with the vast majority of them are civilians.

Riyadh launched the attack on Yemen in a bid to restore power to Yemen’s fugitive president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi who is a close ally to Saudi Arabia.