Fighting has displaced 251,047 people in Yemen since Aug. 1, according to migration data, while blocked roads and insecurity around Taiz are pushing up the cost of basic supplies.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) recorded the total as of Oct. 17, 2026, in figures carried by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Taiz city’s water production has fallen by half, United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Yemen Laurent Bukera said. He linked disrupted deliveries to road closures and insecurity and said prices for the food and fuel still available had more than doubled.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said scarce fuel puts water systems used by about 3 million people in Taiz at risk. At least 1.6 million of those people are children. Water delivered by truck now costs three times as much as it did before the latest escalation, the agency said.
U.N. special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said the renewed fighting had ended a period of relative calm following a 2022 truce. Bukera called on the Houthi de facto authorities to allow commercial supplies and humanitarian aid into Taiz.
