Sanaa: A senior UN official warned on Monday that Yemen faces a serious risk of renewed conflict, telling the Security Council that recent developments in the country underscore the need for a Yemeni-led political process, as tensions flared following an airstrike on Sanaa airport.

According to Anadolu Agency, the emergency session of the UN Security Council came after Yemen's Defense Ministry said its forces struck the Sanaa airport runway after the Houthis prevented Yemeni flights from landing and allowed an Iranian plane to land 'in violation of the Yemeni territory.'

Khaled Khiari, assistant secretary-general for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, told the Security Council that "recent developments in Yemen are a stark reminder that there is no alternative to an inclusive, Yemeni-owned political process." He emphasized that "a negotiated political settlement reached through dialogue under UN auspices can provide a durable and sustainable resolution to the conflict."

Khiari added that the UN is "deeply concerned about the risk of wider escalation," warning that "Yemen and the wider region cannot afford another cycle of escalation." He called on "all actors to constructively engage in negotiations under UN auspices," saying such engagement is "essential to ensure de-escalation, advance safe, predictable, and sustainable civilian air access, among other priorities." He noted that the UN special envoy for Yemen "is actively engaging with the parties and has contacted military representatives from all sides to urge de-escalation."

Stressing that "unilateral measures will not bring Yemen closer to peace," Khiari warned that they "risk entrenching divisions, accelerating fragmentation and heightening the danger of renewed escalation and military confrontation." He urged all parties to "engage constructively with the efforts of the Special Envoy, to choose dialogue over violence and to refrain from measures that could undermine prospects for peace."

Khiari also raised concern over UN staff held by Yemen's Houthis, saying "73 UN colleagues" and other personnel "remain in arbitrary detention," renewing calls for "their immediate, safe and unconditional release."

Echoing those concerns, Indrika Ratwatte, acting assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said "Yemen's humanitarian crisis is deepening just as our ability to respond has been sharply reduced." He highlighted that families across the country are facing "a daunting combination of hunger, economic decline, forced displacement, disease outbreaks and the collapse of basic services," noting that "more than 18 million people across Yemen are hungry, many of them acutely so."

Ratwatte said "Yemen's humanitarian crisis cannot be separated from wider regional developments," adding that "recent months have shown how quickly regional tensions can reverberate inside Yemen, notably through increased fuel and food prices that are felt first and most fiercely by those who can least afford them." He warned that "further escalation, whether within Yemen or across the wider region, could have immediate and dire humanitarian consequences," saying it "could mean more displacement, fewer and more expensive imports, and even tighter constraints on humanitarian access."

Ratwatte also pointed to the impact of the closure of Sanaa's international airport, saying it "has made life even harder for already fragile communities," as patients are now "forced to make long, difficult and sometimes dangerous journeys to reach flights departing from Aden." He concluded by noting, "The people of Yemen have shown untold resilience, but they deserve more from us."

The Houthis have been at war with Yemen's government since 2014, a conflict that has triggered a major humanitarian crisis.