Taiz hospitals brink collapse as Houthi siege cuts off supplies and escape routes.

Hospitals in the Yemeni city of Taiz face imminent closure as a tightened Houthi blockade drains remaining stocks of fuel and medical supplies, the country’s health ministry warned on Saturday.

The Ministry of Public Health and Population said emergency care, surgery, and intensive units could stop running within days. The shortage of intravenous fluids, oxygen, and diesel threatens generators, ambulances, and the cold chains required to store vaccines. The ministry demanded that officials reopen supply routes and allow safe passage for medical staff and aid workers.

The crisis deepened after Houthi forces captured the coastal port of Mocha in September and seized the town of At Turbah by October 4. Those gains severed the last main highway connecting Taiz to government-controlled territory. Yemeni government troops, supported by Saudi Arabia, launched a counteroffensive in early October to break the encirclement.

Officials say the current blockade covers more territory and restricts movement more strictly than the 2015 siege. About 2.8 million residents remain in government-held districts, joined by 200,000 people who fled nearby conflict zones. With official fuel channels blocked, black market prices for a standard 20-litre petrol container have tripled from 30,000 to 90,000 Yemeni riyals.

"Civilians must never be turned into a means of exerting pressure in any conflict," said Nabil Sharyan, head of the Justice for Rights and Development Organization. The UN refugee agency and the World Health Organization have joined the warnings, cautioning that sustained fighting could permanently fracture Yemen’s already fragile healthcare network.