The American Center for Justice (ACJ) has warned of an imminent humanitarian catastrophe threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Taiz city, as the Houthi movement escalates its armed attacks and tightens its blockade of the city by preventing fuel and cooking gas supplies from entering. These developments are compounded by security measures and region-based restrictions that prevent displaced people from entering the city of Aden.
In a statement and urgent humanitarian appeal, the Center said that continued Houthi attacks on densely populated residential neighbourhoods, coupled with restrictions on the entry of petroleum products, have brought public hospitals and dialysis centres to the brink of a complete shutdown. This threatens the lives of hundreds of patients and wounded people whose survival depends on a continuous electricity supply and the uninterrupted operation of medical equipment.
In its statement, issued on 18 October 2026, the Center added that the Houthi movement had imposed a blanket ban on the entry of domestic cooking gas, including small quantities carried by individuals. These restrictions have driven black-market fuel prices to levels beyond the purchasing power of the majority of residents trapped in the besieged city.
The Center also reported widespread economic violations in areas of Taiz governorate recently brought under Houthi control. These included the imposition of mandatory prices for goods and orders requiring traders and residents to dispose of the official currency issued by the Central Bank within one month and replace it with the old currency. The Center further reported raids on the homes of displaced residents, the looting of their furniture and personal belongings, and the publication of video footage showing acts of vandalism and destruction.
Regarding civilian movement, the Center explained that armed clashes near the few remaining routes available for civilians to cross, combined with deliberate closures lasting longer than the designated periods for passage, expose travellers to potentially fatal risks. The Center also criticised the security authorities in Aden for preventing displaced families and people fleeing conflict zones from entering the city and detaining them at security checkpoints on discriminatory, region-based grounds.
The American Center for Justice stressed that the deliberate interruption of fuel supplies, the targeting of Taiz’s healthcare system, and the use of the blockade as a weapon of war may constitute war crimes under international humanitarian law. It called on the international community and the United Nations to intervene immediately to secure an end to the shelling and ensure that access routes are opened to allow essential supplies into the city. It also urged the security authorities in Aden to respect the rights of displaced people and immediately facilitate their entry and accommodation without discrimination.
FULL STATEMENT
American Center for Justice (ACJ): Taiz Faces a Slow Death — We Condemn the Closure of Lifelines and Call for Urgent International Intervention to Save Civilians and Patients
The American Center for Justice (ACJ) is following with grave concern the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Taiz city, where the Houthi movement is tightening its siege on millions of civilians and combining direct military escalation with a systematic campaign of starvation. This is unfolding amid international silence that is exacerbating the scale of the catastrophe, alongside arbitrary measures that deprive displaced people of their right to seek safety.
The Houthi movement continues to intensify its flagrant military attacks on densely populated residential neighbourhoods in the besieged city of Taiz, causing ongoing civilian casualties and destroying civilian objects. These attacks coincide with the movement’s prevention of petroleum products from entering the city, a punitive measure that has brought public hospitals and dialysis centres to the brink of a complete shutdown. The deliberate cutting off of fuel supplies to healthcare facilities amounts to a death sentence for hundreds of patients and wounded people whose lives depend on medical equipment powered by electricity.
The Houthi movement has imposed a blanket ban on the entry of domestic cooking gas into Taiz city and is pursuing even individuals attempting to bring in small quantities to meet their daily needs. This comprehensive blockade has fuelled the black market, driving fuel and cooking gas prices to exorbitant levels that the majority of the besieged population cannot afford.
In areas recently brought under Houthi control, the movement has imposed arbitrary economic restrictions, including the imposition of compulsory prices for consumer goods and orders requiring traders and residents to dispose of the official currency used in areas controlled by Yemen’s internationally recognised government within one month and replace it with the old currency. These measures threaten to trigger widespread bankruptcies and the systematic plundering of residents’ savings.
The Center has documented incidents in which Houthi elements in areas recently brought under their control attacked the homes of displaced residents, forcibly broke into them and looted their contents. These elements reportedly filmed the ransacking and destruction of the homes and published the footage. Such retaliatory conduct violates the sanctity of private homes and instils fear among displaced residents, in an apparent effort to prevent them from returning to their homes.
Civilians seeking to flee areas of danger face potentially fatal risks on the roads. Armed clashes are erupting near the few remaining routes used by residents, while the Houthi movement deliberately extends the periods during which these routes are closed beyond the designated windows for civilian passage.
As civilians flee these conditions in search of safety, the security authorities in Aden are preventing displaced people arriving from Taiz from entering the city and detaining them at its entry points on security-related and discriminatory, region-based grounds. This leaves fleeing families stranded in the open, without shelter or protection.
The American Center for Justice (ACJ) affirms that the actions attributed to the Houthi movement, including shelling residential neighbourhoods, preventing fuel and cooking gas supplies from reaching civilians and hospitals, and looting the property of displaced people, constitute war crimes and grave violations of the four Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law, which prohibits collective punishment and the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.
The prevention of displaced people from moving freely by the security authorities in Aden also constitutes an explicit violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, which uphold freedom of movement and the principle of non-discrimination.
In light of these grave developments, the American Center for Justice issues an urgent appeal to the international community, the United Nations and the World Health Organization, and calls for the following measures:
- Immediate pressure to halt attacks and lift the blockade.
Exert immediate pressure on the Houthi movement to stop shelling residential neighbourhoods in Taiz, lift the blockade of the city, and allow petroleum products and domestic cooking gas to enter without restriction or condition. - Urgent humanitarian and medical assistance.
The World Health Organization and humanitarian relief organisations must urgently supply hospitals and dialysis centres in Taiz with fuel and medical supplies through safe humanitarian routes that ensure these facilities can continue operating. - An end to economic coercion and property violations.
Require the Houthi movement to cease confiscating citizens’ money and property, repeal decisions restricting the circulation of the official currency, and immediately stop raiding and looting the homes of displaced people. - Freedom of movement and protection for displaced people.
Call on the Yemeni government and the security authorities in Aden to abolish all region-based and security-related restrictions imposed on the movement of civilians, open entry points to displaced people, and guarantee their dignity and safety. - International accountability and targeted sanctions.
Activate international accountability mechanisms and include on international sanctions lists the leaders implicated in the siege of Taiz, the starvation of its residents, and the looting of private property.
Issued by: American Center for Justice (ACJ)
Date: 18 October 2026
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