Today, Thursday, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, called on the Houthis to stop the military escalation in the Marib governorate (central), while the health authorities in the governorate declared the Abdiya district a disaster area, and said that it was experiencing a humanitarian tragedy as a result of the siege and the bombing of the only hospital in it by the Houthis.

Grundberg stressed in a session of the Security Council that the continuation of the fighting puts thousands of Yemenis in a difficult situation and leads to human rights violations.

"I count on your support in making the warring parties in Yemen realize that it is their responsibility to engage together to reach an agreement under the auspices of the United Nations," Grundberg told council members.

"During my dialogues with the warring parties, Yemenis expressed, without exception, the need to end the war and address the economic and humanitarian concerns in their country," he added.

He added, "The mistrust gaps between the warring parties are widening and growing, and we need to discuss the criteria for a political settlement of the conflict, opening Sanaa airport and stopping the military escalation in Marib."

The UN envoy stressed that a sustainable solution can only be achieved through a comprehensive political settlement based on negotiation without preconditions, expressing regret over the failure to renew the mandate of the international investigation team into war crimes in Yemen.

On Thursday, the United Nations Human Rights Council failed to pass a resolution extending the mandate of the international team to investigate possible crimes in Yemen for an additional two years.


Fierce battles

On the ground, the Saudi-led coalition announced the implementation of 36 operations against Houthi equipment and elements in Abdiya in Marib during the past 24 hours.

On the other hand, Houthi forces have seized positions 18 kilometers west of Marib, and are trying to advance elsewhere to encircle the city, which hosts hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people.

Local sources said that the Houthis were able to make progress in the Abdiya district, despite the resistance described as fierce by the people of the area.

For about 3 weeks, the Houthis have besieged the Abdiya district of Marib governorate from various ports, after government forces, with the support of the Saudi-Emirati coalition, repelled all their attacks aimed at controlling it.

In the neighboring "Al-Juba" district, Yemeni sources said that the Yemeni army forces and tribesmen on the one hand, and the Houthi fighters on the other hand exchanged attacks and artillery shelling.


Disaster area

In a related context, the health authorities in Marib Governorate declared the Abdiya district, which has been besieged by Houthi forces for 3 weeks, as a "disaster area."

The office of the Ministry of Public Health and Population in Ma'rib governorate said, in a statement, "We announce Al-Abdiyyah, a stricken area that is experiencing a human tragedy as a result of the applied siege and the bombing of the only hospital in it, where the extent of the suffering cannot be predicted in light of the continued bombing of villages and homes."

The statement condemned the Houthi militia's bombing of the Al-Abdiya District Hospital and the Children's Center in the hospital, on Wednesday morning, while a number of children and wounded civilians were receiving treatment as a result of targeting their homes.

He said, "The bombing led to significant damage to the hospital, forcing the Directorate's Health Department to evacuate the sick and wounded, including the wounded Houthi militia, who were arrested by the legitimate government forces."

He added that the bombing of the hospital came at a time when the Houthi militia has prevented medicines, supplies and medical staff from reaching the district since it imposed a siege on it on September 21, threatening the lives of 37,000 people.

The statement called on the International Red Cross to urgently respond to the dangerous humanitarian situation in Abdiya and to speed up the provision of urgent medical services.

He called on international bodies to pressure the Houthis and implement the measures stipulated by international humanitarian law, by opening safe corridors to protect the population, bringing in food and medicine, evacuating the wounded and sick, and stopping war crimes being committed in the district.

Yemen has been witnessing a war for nearly 7 years, which has killed more than 233,000 people, and 80% of the population, numbering about 30 million, has become dependent on support and aid, in the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, according to the United Nations.

The conflict has had regional spillovers, since March 2015, as a coalition led by neighboring Saudi Arabia has been carrying out military operations in support of government forces, in the face of the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have controlled several governorates, including the capital, Sanaa, since 2014.