Since the fighting began at the end of March between Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia led-coalition forces, Médecins Sans Frontières [MSF] has provided medical assistance to close to 7,000 war casualties.

MSF teams working in Yemen have witnessed pregnant women and children dying after arriving too late at the health centre because of petrol shortages or having to hole up for days on end while waiting for a lull in the fighting. People requiring emergency medical treatment have also died after being held up at roadblocks guarded by combatants.

MSF has also provided care to victims of the coalition bombing ¬- at the end of March, when El-Mazraadisplaced persons camp in Hajjah Governorate was bombed, wounding at least 34 people, 29 of whom were already dead on arrival at the hospital;... and on July 4, when its teams treated around 70 casualties in Beni-Hassan in northwest Yemen after several airstrikes had targeted a busy market as the Ramadan fast ended...

Throughout the country, the population is suffering from severe shortages as food, drugs and petrol become increasingly rare, threatening the survival of the most vulnerable. With fuel lacking for generators and pumping stations, some hospitals are no longer able to function and obtaining clean water is increasingly problematic. People queue for petrol for hours, or even days, in the hope of being able to flee the combat zone or transport a casualty or somebody sick to the nearest hospital.

The malaria season has begun and suspected cases of haemorrhagic fever are rising. While MSF has managed to obtain the necessary authorisations to bring over 100 tons of drugs and medical supplies into the country, ministry of health facilities and private clinics have not so they are receiving no supplies whatsoever. As in Aden, the price of flour has increased by 70% in some areas and meat is all but non-existent. Data collected by MSF in Khamir and Saada show that 15% of children are under-nourished.

War crimes and severe shortages result in the population being subjected to double the suffering, caused not only by...but also Resolution 2216 [2015] adopted by the United Nations Security Council in April. Proposed by Jordan and actively supported by theUnited States, Great Britain and France, the declared purpose of the Resolution under Chapter VII of the Charter was to put an end to the ["]violence["] in Yemen, by imposing, among others, an arms embargo on the Houthis. The military coalition was thus presented with a blank check to bomb all infrastructure such as roads, airports, ports and petrol stations that could afford a military advantage to the rebels and impose restrictions on air and maritime trade which have rapidly resulted in isolating the entire country from the outside world. It is abundantly clear that the Resolution chose the wrong target as, far from "putting an end to ["]violence["]", it has fuelled the warring appetites...and tightened the stranglehold on the population. Apart from only too few convoys, the United Nations - which never ceases to express its grave concern over the humanitarian situation - has not set up a supply line to facilitate transport of basic necessities such as drugs, food and fuel.

In view of what we are witnessing in Aden, we fear that the coalition-led ["]offensives["] seeking to regain territory from the Houthis will, in the short-term, inflict yet more violence on civilians caught between...and expose them to armed reprisals. Furthermore, we also fear that those countries who support the coalition in its quest "to liberate" Yemen - whatever the cost - will view such violence as acceptable collateral damage. A collateral damage that may be of little concern to governments - as we have come to understand in recent months during our attempts to rally diplomats in Paris, Geneva and Washington on the need to put pressure... to spare civilian lives.

There is still time for those States responsible for the human cost of the conflict to do all in their power to lessen this cost by sanctioning as such the war crimes committed...and urgently restoring the population’s access to essential services.