United Nations has warned that Yemen now faces its most serious risk of returning to large-scale conflict since the UN-mediated truce of 2022, as renewed military activity and regional tensions threaten to unravel years of relative calm and deepen an already devastating humanitarian crisis.
The warning comes as attacks by Ansar Allah, commonly known as the Houthis, intensify amid a broader regional confrontation that has placed additional pressure on trade and energy routes through the Middle East.
UN Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg revealed that the country was nearing a tipping point, with military developments along frontline areas and Houthi strikes on commercial vessels threatening to drag Yemen deeper into the larger regional conflict.
“Yemen today faces a more serious risk of return to large-scale conflict than at any point since the 2022 UN-mediated truce.”
Hans Grundberg
His assessment comes as Yemen experiences a precarious period of reduced violence, giving millions of civilians a measure of respite after years of conflict pitting the internationally recognised government against Houthi forces.
The Houthis seized de facto control of Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, in 2014, triggering a conflict that developed into one of the world’s most severe humanitarian emergencies. The subsequent years of tensions devastated infrastructure, weakened the economy and left millions dependent on humanitarian assistance.
The UN-mediated truce announced in April 2022 dramatically reduced violence and created an opening for negotiations. Although the formal truce expired later that year, the relative reduction in large-scale hostilities continued to provide space for diplomatic engagement and humanitarian access.
“The attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden risk deepening Yemen’s entanglement with the wider regional confrontation.”.
Hans Grundberg
Grundberg added that he remained convinced that diplomacy could still prevent the situation from deteriorating further, despite the increasingly difficult circumstances.
He also urged countries with influence over Yemen’s competing parties to use their leverage to prevent a return to the battlefield.
“Four years of calm can be lost in a few weeks of escalation. I am asking every [Council] member with influence over the parties to use it to steer Yemen away from the battlefield and back to the negotiating table.”
Hans Grundberg
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis remains exceptionally severe, with millions of people continuing to face hunger, displacement, poverty and limited access to basic services despite the reduction in large-scale conflict.
According to UN humanitarian estimates, 22.3 million people will require assistance and protection in Yemen in 2026, highlighting the scale of needs facing a country whose population has endured more than a decade of conflict and economic decline.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher told the Security Council that the humanitarian situation was showing little sign of improvement.
“I wish I could report a positive shift, but the trajectory of the humanitarian crisis remains unchanged. More than a decade into this conflict, millions of Yemenis face impossible, daily choices: food or medicine, education or labor, survival or displacement.”
Tom Fletcher
The situation is being compounded by economic decline, rising prices and shortages in humanitarian funding. More than half of Yemen’s population is experiencing acute food insecurity, while approximately six million people are facing emergency levels of deprivation that border on famine.
Yet humanitarian access remains a major challenge, while the international appeal for Yemen is only about 20% funded.
The United Nations has allocated an initial $10 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support food security efforts, but Fletcher warned that the funding could only provide temporary relief.
The allocation, he stated, “is a stopgap, not a solution.”
Calls Grow for Attacks to Cease
International pressure has mounted on Yemen’s Houthi movement to halt attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Gulf of Aden, as members of the United Nations Security Council warn that continued strikes could threaten maritime security, worsen Yemen’s humanitarian crisis and pull the country deeper into the wider regional conflict.
According to Charge d’affaires and Deputy Permanent Representative Ioannis Stamatekos of Greece, “the security of navigation in the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden is a matter of critical international importance.”
“The Houthis must not jeopardize maritime security in the Red Sea, must not drag Yemen into a wider regional conflict and must not undermine efforts towards a sustainable political settlement.”
Ioannis Stamatekos
Pakistan also condemned the attacks, particularly the 11 August strike against the commercial vessel Tihamah, which resulted in the deaths of three Pakistani and one Indonesian crew members.
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said the protection of seafarers and international maritime transportation must remain a priority under international law.
“The safety and security of international maritime shipping and protection of seafarers must be respected in accordance with international law.”
Asim Iftikhar Ahmad
Beyond the immediate maritime threat, Pakistan warned that renewed conflict could further compound Yemen’s already severe humanitarian conditions.
“Yemen’s acute humanitarian needs must remain at the forefront of the Council’s attention. The international community must urgently address funding shortfalls.”
Asim Iftikhar Ahmad
United Kingdom similarly called for sustained international support for Yemen’s humanitarian response, with Ambassador Sarah Macintosh noting that London provided more than $180 million in life-saving assistance in 2025.
She also pointed to the appointment of Afrah Al-Zouba as Yemen’s first female Foreign Minister and said UK would work with the new leadership on reform and security efforts.
“The choices made now will determine whether Yemen moves closer to peace or slips back towards deeper conflict and humanitarian crisis.”
Sarah Macintosh
United States meanwhile accused Iran of providing direct support to Houthi military capabilities. Deputy Representative Jennifer Locetta cited an Iranian flight into Sana’a on 3 July, alleging that it transported Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel, including drone and missile experts.
“This flight instead delivered IRGC personnel, including drone and missile experts, directly to the Houthi terrorists. We demand that the Houthis cease attacks against countries in the region and actions which undermine freedom in the Red Sea.”
Jennifer Locetta
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