According to the Human Rights Watch [HRW] organization, the "Saudi Arabia-led coalition’s blockade of Yemen is keeping out fuel needed for the Yemeni population’s survival in violation of the laws of war", in an article on its website on Monday.
HRW said in the article on Monday that, "Yemen is in urgent need of fuel to power generators for hospitals overwhelmed with wounded from the fighting and to pump water to civilian residences".
"The 10-country coalition, which has United States logistics and intelligence support, should urgently implement measures for the rapid processing of oil tankers to allow the safe, secure, and speedy distribution of fuel supplies to the civilian population...," it said.
It added: "...Fuel should be allowed to go through whether or not a proposed ceasefire takes effect".
On May 3, the World Health Organization [WHO] noted "a doubling in cases of bloody diarrhoea in children under 5 as well as measles and malaria infections since March 26", HRW further said in its article.
"The fuel shortage has also impacted many of the country’s hospitals, which do not have enough fuel for their generators to run", it added.
HRW further said that, "Heavy fighting, including aerial bombing by coalition forces, has wounded several thousand people in urban areas, taxing the country’s already substandard healthcare system", adding that, "The World Health Organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC], and other humanitarian agencies have pointed to the imminent shutdown of hospitals and medical services for lack of fuel and basic supplies".
"The increase in fuel prices has also contributed to skyrocketing prices for basic food stuffs", it further noted.
