"The escalation of hostilities has had an enormous impact in Yemen – tens of thousands more people have been displaced, the cost of fuel and food and other basic commodities has soared (making it very difficult for people to meet their basic needs) and civilian infrastructure – from hospitals, to electricity supplies to water systems – have been affected," Rummery said.
The UNHCR estimated there are about 120,000 — 150,000 newly displaced people since the escalation of conflict in late March, adding to the approximately 300,000 Yemenis displaced by previous waves of the conflict.
The Saudi-led coalition had been conducting airstrikes against Houthi militants since late March upon the request of Yemen's president-in-exile Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. On Tuesday, the coalition officially terminated its nearly month-long campaign by replacing it with an operation it called "Restoring Hope," intending to focus on counter-terrorism operations, humanitarian missions and a revival of political dialogue in Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East.
Despite the formal termination of the military operation, airstrikes in Yemen continued through Wednesday. A local source told Sputnik earlier in the day that the coalition carried out five additional airstrikes on Houthi positions in the southern Yemeni governorate of Lahij.
