In a brief statement, US President Donald Trump called on Saudi Arabia to "immediately" allow humanitarian aid to reach Yemen and halt bombings in the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula.
"I have asked my government officials to call on the leaders of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to allow full access to food, fuel, water and medicine to reach the people of Yemen who desperately need them. "This must be done immediately for humanitarian reasons."
The White House praised in late November the first steps announced by the Saudi-led coalition to facilitate aid deliveries to Yemen, but the State Department acknowledged this week that the "humanitarian situation" remained "catastrophic" in the country.
A "war crimes" theater that the International Criminal Court began investigating in late November, Yemen is experiencing "the worst humanitarian crisis in the world", according to the UN. Seventeen million people are in need of food aid and of these, seven million are on the brink of starvation, while hostilities in the country are escalating.