UN envoy warns Yemen has returned to ‘full-scale war’, urges dialogue

What the report says

United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg told the UN Security Council on Friday that the conflict had shifted back into what he described as “full-scale war,” as fighting between Houthi forces and Yemen’s internationally recognized government continued. His remarks came during a council discussion on the worsening situation, with the envoy warning that civilians, including women and children, were bearing the main impact of the violence.

Grundberg said the region’s wider instability was affecting Yemen and that developments in Yemen were also feeding back into broader Middle East tensions. He urged council members to back mediation efforts and said military gains could not replace negotiations needed to settle the conflict. The UN has said at least 46 civilians have been killed and more than 130 injured since August, with children particularly affected.

The representative of Yemen’s recognized government, Abdullah Ali Fadhel al-Saadi, said the Houthi threat was no longer only a domestic issue and called for practical steps to cut off funding, weapons and technology to the group. He also thanked Saudi Arabia for its support. Saudi Arabia’s UN envoy, Abdulaziz al-Wasil, said the Security Council needed to respond to what he called a dangerous escalation, while Saudi officials reported attacks on King Khalid International Airport near Riyadh, which they said killed three Saudi citizens.

Al Jazeera reported that the appeals reflected growing pressure on the Security Council to push for de-escalation and renewed talks as the Yemen war continues to spill into regional security and shipping concerns.