The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms documented 164 crimes and violations committed by the terrorist Houthis within 48 hours across the Taiz and Lahj governorates, reflecting the widening scope of their targeting of civilians and vital infrastructure in southwestern Yemen. The attacks involved firing around 450 projectiles at populated areas, killing 28 civilians and injuring 57 others. The surge in violence coincided with the targeting of a health center in Lahj and a popular market in Taiz, drawing sharp condemnations from government officials, human rights organizations, and the European Union. This Houthi offensive comes amid mounting humanitarian pressure on local populations, particularly in Taiz, which continues to endure a relentless blockade alongside severe restrictions on the delivery of supplies and aid. Meanwhile, military clashes are expanding across the southern and western fronts of the governorate, as civilian and medical facilities are increasingly transformed into targets. In its report on Tuesday, the Network stated that the death toll reached 28 civilians, including five children and three women. Furthermore, 57 others were injured, including 14 children and six women, with 10 healthcare workers among the casualties. According to the report, the Houthi violations included killing and injuring individuals through shelling and sniper fire, committing two massacres against civilians, abduction, and detention. The acts also involved targeting residential neighborhoods, public roads, ambulance crews, and private vehicles, alongside recruiting young people from marginalized groups and subjecting them to enlistment programs. Among the most prominent incidents documented by the rights network was the Houthi targeting of the Al-Saqiya health center in the Al-Mudharaba district in Lahj on Monday with a ballistic missile. The attack caused deaths and injuries among medical personnel and triggered a wave of official condemnations, as it was a direct assault on a facility providing humanitarian services to civilians. The Ministry of Public Health and Population announced that the attack resulted, according to an initial toll, in the death of five people, including three members of the medical team working at the center, and the injury of 15 others, including seven healthcare workers. It said the attack was a blatant violation of humanitarian, international laws and norms that guarantee the protection of medical facilities, their workers, patients, and visitors, warning of the dangerous repercussions of such attacks on the capacity of health facilities, which are already limited, to continue providing their services. It called on the United Nations, the international community, and humanitarian organizations, foremost among them the World Health Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to condemn the attack, investigate it, hold those responsible accountable, and work toward providing the necessary protection for health facilities, medical personnel, and ambulance crews. Yemeni Prime Minister Shaya Al-Zindani described the attack as a "full-fledged terrorist crime" and a violation of international humanitarian law. It reveals a pattern of targeting civilian and medical facilities, and an assault on citizens' rights to life and medical treatment, he said in a telephone call with Lahj Governor Murad Al-Halimi. European condemnation In a statement on Monday, the European Union “strongly condemned the Houthis' continued military escalation in Yemen and their attacks against Saudi Arabia, particularly those targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.” “We express our full solidarity with the legitimate Government of Yemen and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and their people,” it declared. “The recent attacks against Aden’s Al-Maashiq palace, the continued siege of Taiz, the military action along Yemen's west coast, and attacks against Saudi Arabia, were heinous acts. All Houthi military action must end immediately,” it demanded. “We call on all actors, including Iran to cease all military support to the Houthis, in violation of several United Nations Security Council resolutions,” it added. “The EU reaffirms its firm commitment to Yemen's unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. We remain fully committed and will increase our support to the legitimate Government of Yemen and the Presidential Leadership Council, including in their efforts to advance reforms, strengthen governance and address the deteriorating economic, humanitarian and human rights situation,” it said. “The EU reiterates that there can be no military solution to the conflict in Yemen and reaffirms its full support to the UN Special Envoy and for UN-led peace efforts in Yemen, in line with relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, including UNSCR 2216, aimed at achieving an inclusive, sustainable, Yemeni-led and Yemeni-owned political settlement,” it stressed. It continued: “The Houthis’ military escalation and the crisis of access and affordability of essential goods across the country compound an already catastrophic humanitarian situation, worsening food insecurity and lack of access to healthcare and safe water, with more than 22 million people in need of assistance.” The city of Taiz currently shelters 800,000-950,000 civilians, including displaced persons. “The city is once again under siege, threatened by a major Houthi military build-up. The use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited under international law. Civilians must not be used as a shield for military objectives or operations. We call on the Houthis to urgently open a humanitarian corridor in Taiz and ensure safe, rapid and unhindered humanitarian access to all those in need,” said the EU statement. “The safety and freedom of humanitarian staff to operate must be ensured at all times. All parties to the conflict must comply with international humanitarian and human rights law, including the obligation to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure,” it said. “We reiterate our call for the immediate and unconditional release of all humanitarian personnel including the 70 UN staff who remain arbitrarily detained by the Houthis in Sanaa.”
