The intractable war in Yemen that has been laying waste to the northern half of the country for nearly three years became even more dismal in early November when Saudi Arabia tightened its blockade on the country, cutting a desperate population off from much-needed food aid, medical supplies, and fuel.

The blockade was a response to the firing of a missile by the country’s Houthi rebels, who Riyadh considers proxies of Iran, toward Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4, the first time a Houthi strike reached that far into the kingdom. “Iran cannot lob missiles at Saudi cities and towns and expect us not to take steps,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told CNN in response to the attack. But it’s the civilians of Yemen who are feeling the brunt of these steps.

The United Nation’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, Mark Lowcock, has warned that if the blockade isn’t lifted, Yemen “will not be like the famine that we saw in South Sudan earlier in the year where tens of thousands of people were affected. It will not be like the famine which cost 250,000 people their lives in Somalia in 2011. It will be the largest famine the world has seen for many decades, with millions of victims.” Save the Children announced that approximately 130 children die every day in Yemen from extreme hunger and disease. Photos of emaciated Yemeni children made it to Senate floor last week.

Read the source article at Slate Magazine