15 September 2026
SAM for Rights and Liberties monitored, on 14 and 15 September 2026, rapidly evolving humanitarian and human rights developments reflecting the widening impact of the military escalation in Yemen, with the number of internally displaced people exceeding 100,000, more than 2,400 people crossing by sea to Djibouti over four days, and UNICEF reporting that more than 137,000 school-aged children are facing major disruptions to their education.
Alongside the humanitarian repercussions inside the country, Human Rights Watch published an investigation on 15 September into a series of attacks carried out by the Houthi group against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden during July and August, concluding that at least three of these attacks likely amount to war crimes, according to the organization’s assessment and the evidence it reviewed.
On 15 September, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned that the rapid escalation of hostilities along Yemen’s western coast had displaced more than 100,000 people inside the country.
UNHCR said displacement had affected the governorates of Al Hodeidah, Taiz, Lahj, Aden, Abyan, Marib, Al Dhaleh, and Shabwah, and that many families had fled their areas at short notice, taking only a few belongings, while host communities and displacement sites were coming under increasing pressure.
UNHCR identified the most urgent needs as shelter, food, safe drinking water, health care, and protection services, while humanitarian access continues to face obstacles linked to insecurity, damaged roads, telecommunications disruptions, and movement restrictions, particularly along the western coast and between Taiz, At Turbah, and Aden. It also noted that damage to Al-Mokha Port had further constrained humanitarian movement and logistics.
UNHCR announced that it had activated its emergency response capacity inside Yemen, including multipurpose cash assistance for 1,000 households, emergency shelter cash assistance for 500 households, and shelter repair kits for 1,000 households, with plans to scale up the response if funding and humanitarian access permit.
UNHCR reported that more than 2,400 people had crossed the sea from Yemen to Djibouti over a period of four days, arriving mainly through Obock, Khor Angar, Moulhoule, and Godoria.
It said that more than 60 percent of the arrivals were women, children, and older people, and that reports indicated more people might be preparing to leave Yemen if the security situation continued to deteriorate. UNHCR is also monitoring the possibility of further or parallel movements toward Somalia.
UNHCR stressed that this movement primarily consists of refugees fleeing conflict and insecurity and seeking international protection, and that those arriving should be received, protected, and assisted.
In cooperation with the Djiboutian authorities, UNHCR is receiving and registering new arrivals and transferring them to Markazi refugee village, while providing transportation, temporary shelter, relief items, food, water, health care, and protection services.
UNHCR nevertheless warned that reception capacity is under severe pressure, noting that Markazi has room for only around 5,000 additional refugees, while preparations are under way for the possible arrival of more than 10,000 people.
On 14 September, UNICEF Yemen reported that more than 137,000 school-aged children were facing major disruptions to their education amid the current crisis.
UNICEF said its response teams were working to establish 20 Child-Friendly Spaces, along with temporary classrooms and protection services, stressing that children should not lose their future to conflict.
SAM stresses that the figure announced by UNICEF refers to children facing major disruption or interruption to education and does not necessarily mean that all 137,000 children have completely dropped out of school.
The continued disruption of education poses risks that extend beyond the immediate effects of the conflict, as repeated displacement, damage to schools, or difficulty accessing them may increase school dropout rates and expose children to additional risks, including exploitation, child labour, recruitment, and other forms of abuse.
SAM underscores the need to protect schools, students, and teachers, ensure continuity of education in emergencies, and provide temporary and safe learning spaces for children forced to leave their schools or communities.
On 15 September, Human Rights Watch said that recent Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden likely amount to war crimes in at least three cases.
The organization said that, as of 24 August, the Houthis had claimed to have targeted at least nine vessels since 20 July, while Saudi and Yemeni authorities, a shipping company, and the captain of one vessel had confirmed four attacks involving the Ensylia, Daisy, Tihama, and Amzan. The Houthis claimed the presence of a military objective only in the case of the Tihama, which they said was carrying Saudi military equipment.
Human Rights Watch said it had reviewed data from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations and ship-tracking websites and had verified photographs and videos related to the attacks.
According to the organization, the evidence it reviewed indicates that the Houthis knew, or should have known, that the Ensylia, Daisy, and Amzan were commercial vessels carrying civilians, while the group did not provide evidence that military objectives were present on board.
SAM stresses that even if military materiel were found to have been present aboard a vessel also carrying a civilian crew, any attack on it would remain subject to the rules of distinction, proportionality, and precautions, and the mere presence of military materiel would not absolve the attacking party of its obligations toward civilians.
UNHCR also warned that continued insecurity in the Bab el-Mandeb area could have consequences extending beyond Yemen, given the strait’s importance as a maritime route linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
UNHCR said deterioration in the security situation could affect humanitarian and commercial shipping serving Yemen, Sudan, and other crisis areas, increase transportation costs, and delay the delivery of essential supplies.
It explained that if shipping operations were forced to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope, this could add between 25 and 30 days to transit times.
UNHCR also announced that it requires approximately $14 million to respond to the immediate needs of displaced families inside Yemen, in addition to further international support for the response to refugees arriving in Djibouti.
Recent developments show that the crisis is expanding simultaneously in several directions: large-scale internal displacement, refugee movements by sea, increasing disruption to children’s education, constraints on humanitarian access, and continuing risks to civilian and commercial shipping.
The displacement of more than 100,000 people over a short period indicates a high level of civilian impact from the hostilities, particularly as displacement has spread across eight governorates and reception areas are already under significant humanitarian and economic pressure.
The fact that more than 2,400 people crossed the sea to Djibouti within four days also shows that some families are increasingly seeking safety outside Yemen, despite the risks associated with sea journeys and the need for international protection upon arrival.
The disruption of education affecting more than 137,000 children represents one of the most serious long-term consequences of the escalation, underscoring the need to expand emergency education programmes, provide safe spaces for children, and ensure that temporary interruptions to schooling do not become permanent dropout.
In the maritime context, the findings announced by Human Rights Watch raise serious concerns regarding respect for the protections afforded to civilian seafarers and commercial vessels. SAM stresses that the organization’s characterization of some attacks as likely amounting to war crimes constitutes a legal assessment by Human Rights Watch based on the evidence it reviewed; any definitive determination of individual criminal responsibility requires an independent investigation meeting applicable legal standards.
SAM stresses that parties to the conflict are required at all times to distinguish between civilians and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives, to take all feasible precautions to avoid or minimize civilian harm, and to refrain from indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks.
The organization also stresses the need to protect children, schools, displaced persons, refugees, humanitarian workers, civilian seafarers, and commercial vessels, and to ensure safe, rapid, and unimpeded humanitarian access.
SAM calls for an urgent expansion of the international humanitarian response commensurate with the scale of the new displacement, support for the response in Djibouti and emergency education inside Yemen, and independent and effective investigations into attacks that caused civilian casualties or targeted commercial vessels, while ensuring accountability for any violations that are established.
18 September 2026
SAM for Rights and Liberties monitored, between 16 and 18 September 2026, new humanitarian and human rights developments across several Yemeni governorates.
These included the killing of three children in the shelling of a residential village in western Taiz; an increase in the number of internally displaced people to 104,796; reports of missiles falling in civilian areas in Amran and east of Al-Mokha; testimony from a displaced woman alleging that her home in Al-Mokha was raided and looted; reports of the seizure of property from medical and humanitarian facilities in Al-Khawkhah and other areas along the western coast; and the arrest in Sana’a of an elderly man, his son, and another person who intervened to inquire about them, allegedly in connection with the participation of a relative in the fighting.
Alongside these developments, the impact of the escalation extended to international shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. On 17 September, Anadolu Agency reported that vessel traffic through the strait had come close to a near-total halt amid escalating clashes along Yemen’s western coast, increasing risks to one of the world’s most important maritime corridors for trade, energy, and humanitarian supplies.
These developments demonstrate the continuing expansion of the conflict’s impact on civilians. At the same time, data from the International Organization for Migration indicate that the pace of displacement has become difficult for humanitarian actors to track in real time, as thousands of people move to new locations inside Yemen and others cross the sea toward Djibouti. Meanwhile, reported interference with medical and humanitarian facilities and disruptions to navigation through Bab el-Mandeb raise concerns about additional pressure on humanitarian operations and supply chains.
On 18 September, the Yemeni News Agency (SABA) reported that three children were killed in shelling that struck Al-Turayrah village in Al-Dharifah subdistrict, Al-Wazi'iyah District, western Taiz Governorate, attributing the attack to the Houthi group.
According to local sources cited by the agency, the children killed were Noureddine Yaqoub Abdu Al-Dharafi, 4; Asawer Fahd Mohammed Ghanem Al-Dharafi, 14; and Tala Mohammed Ahmed Al-Dharafi, 2. The sources said the children were in the village when the shelling occurred.
The incident raises serious concerns regarding the protection of children and residents of populated areas. However, the published information does not provide sufficient details regarding the type of munition used, the launch location, the intended target, or whether any military objectives were present in the vicinity of the village at the time of the attack.
SAM calls for an independent investigation into the incident, including determining the projectile’s impact point, origin, type, and intended target, and assessing compliance with the rules of distinction, proportionality, and precautions under international humanitarian law.
According to data from its Displacement Tracking Matrix, the International Organization for Migration reported that the number of internally displaced people in Yemen had reached 104,796 individuals, representing 17,461 households, amid continued fighting along the western coast.
According to IOM, Taiz remains at the centre of the displacement crisis, with more than 63,000 people displaced from different districts of the governorate, including 21,018 from Jabal Habashi, 12,642 from Al-Ma’afer, and 8,250 from Al-Shamayatayn.
Lahj recorded approximately 26,400 displaced people, most of them from Al-Mudharabah wa Al-Arah District, from which nearly 19,000 people fled, while Aden received more than 3,500 displaced people. IOM also reported increasing numbers of arrivals in Abyan, Hadramout, and Marib as the fighting expands.
The organization said humanitarian workers are struggling to keep pace with displacement movements in real time, and that families sometimes move at night under shelling, carrying only what they are able to take with them.
In Djibouti, IOM said the number of people arriving from Yemen had reached 2,776, and that it continues to provide urgent services, including 1,500 hot meals twice a day.
The continued rise in displacement figures underscores that humanitarian needs extend beyond shelter, food, and water to include protection, health care, basic services, and cash assistance, particularly for families that have been displaced more than once.
On 17 September, Anadolu Agency reported that escalating clashes along Yemen’s western coast had pushed vessel traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait close to a near-total halt, describing the situation as placing one of the most critical chokepoints in global supply chains under significant risk.
According to the infographic published by the agency, total vessel traffic through the strait fell by 88 percent over a 24-hour period, from an average of approximately 33 vessels to around four vessels, while the passage of oil and chemical tankers declined by 91 percent over the same period.
Anadolu reported that around 10 percent of global seaborne trade and approximately 12 percent of global crude oil pass through Bab el-Mandeb, and that companies in the shipping and energy sectors had begun rerouting some journeys via the Cape of Good Hope.
These developments coincide with broader concerns over the impact of continued fighting near the strait on commercial and humanitarian transport. Bab el-Mandeb is a key maritime link between the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Suez Canal.
SAM stresses that the safety of civilian navigation is inseparable from the protection of civilians in armed conflict. Commercial vessels and their civilian crews are protected from attack unless a particular vessel meets the legal criteria for classification as a military objective. Parties must also take all feasible precautions to avoid unlawfully endangering civilian vessels, crews, and routes used for the transportation of humanitarian assistance.
SAM warns that a continued decline in traffic through Bab el-Mandeb could have indirect humanitarian consequences for Yemen and the wider region by increasing transport and insurance costs and delaying the delivery of food, medicine, fuel, and relief supplies, particularly amid the existing pressures on humanitarian operations.
On 18 September, the Hodeidah Governorate Media Office, citing the governorate’s local authority, reported that a number of medical and humanitarian facilities and programmes supported by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre in Al-Khawkhah District and other areas along the western coast had been subjected to raids, looting, and vandalism, attributing these acts to the Houthi group.
According to the source, the affected facilities included medical clinics, warehouses storing food and shelter materials, and a water-supply project, warning that disrupting these facilities or seizing their contents could deprive civilians and displaced people of essential health and humanitarian services.
The local authority said the medical clinics supported by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre had provided free services to approximately a quarter of a million beneficiaries annually, including medical examinations, surgical procedures, laboratory tests, and medicines, and warned that looting their warehouses or disrupting their operations threatened the continuation of these services.
At the time of preparing this briefing, SAM had not been able to independently verify the number of affected facilities, the scale of property and aid allegedly seized, or the damage sustained by each facility. SAM therefore treats this information as allegations requiring independent field documentation on a facility-by-facility basis.
SAM stresses that medical facilities and humanitarian installations and supplies are protected under international humanitarian law. Medical units enjoy special protection and may not be attacked, obstructed, or have their equipment seized merely because they are located in an area where territorial control has changed. Pillage of property and humanitarian supplies, or their use in a manner that deprives civilians of essential services, is also prohibited.
On 18 September, Eman Al-Nashiri published a personal testimony in which she said that her home in Al-Mokha had been raided and its contents looted after she left the area as a result of the military developments.
Al-Nashiri said she had previously been displaced to Al-Mokha in search of safety and that, according to her account, the home where she had been staying was entered and its contents seized after the family was displaced once again.
She also said that other homes whose owners had fled were subjected to similar incidents, noting that some residents moved to other governorates while others crossed the sea to Djibouti.
SAM treats this information as direct testimony concerning the home of the person providing the account. Allegations concerning a broader number of homes, their scale, and the identity of those responsible for entering them require independent, case-by-case documentation.
If the unlawful appropriation of civilian property in the context of the conflict is established, it may raise serious legal concerns in light of the prohibition on pillage under international humanitarian law and the obligation to respect private property.
On 16 September, journalist Fares Al-Hemyari reported that African migrants were killed after a ballistic missile fell on a qat farm in the Bani Qais area of Bani Suraym District, Amran Governorate. He said the missile fell following a failed launch attributed to the Houthi group.
SAM treats the incident as still under verification and calls for the number, identities, and nationalities of the victims to be disclosed, and for a technical examination of the projectile remnants to determine its type, point of origin, and the circumstances that led to its falling in a civilian area.
SAM stresses that migrants, regardless of their legal status or nationality, are entitled to the protections afforded to civilians unless and for such time as they directly participate in hostilities.
On 17 September, Al-Masdar Online reported that a missile fell in Al-Jarib village, east of Al-Mokha city in Taiz Governorate, stating that the missile came down after being launched toward an area south of Bab el-Mandeb.
Other local sources published broadly similar accounts of the missile falling in the village. Initial information available did not include confirmed reports of casualties or material damage.
SAM stresses that launching missiles on trajectories that pass over or near populated areas entails an obligation to take all feasible precautions to reduce risks to civilians.
On 17 September, Al-Mushahid, citing local sources, reported that the Houthi group had detained Saleh Al-Hajjaji, 60, and his eldest son in Sana’a in connection with the participation of his other son, Osama, in fighting with Tariq Saleh’s forces on the western coast.
According to the source, Osama Saleh Al-Hajjaji was killed during fighting in Al-Mokha, while his family had, at the time of publication, been unable to determine the whereabouts of his body or recover it.
The source added that Saleh Al-Hajjaji and his eldest son remained in detention, and that the group had also detained the neighborhood representative when he went to a security authority to inquire about their situation.
If it is established that the detention was based solely on family ties or on acts committed by another family member, this would raise serious concerns regarding arbitrary detention and the principle of individual responsibility. No person may be held responsible for the acts of a relative, nor may family members be used as a means of pressure or retaliation.
SAM calls for the places of detention and the legal basis for the detention of those named to be disclosed, for them to be allowed to communicate with their families and access fundamental legal safeguards, and for their immediate release if there are no specific and individualized legal grounds justifying their continued detention.
SAM also calls for Osama Al-Hajjaji’s body to be returned to his family if it is in the possession of any party to the conflict, or for reliable information about its whereabouts to be provided, in order to ensure respect for the dead and the family’s right to know his fate.
Developments documented between 16 and 18 September reveal the overlap of several patterns of risk faced by civilians: continued attacks and weapons whose effects reach villages and populated areas; expanding displacement accompanied by the loss of homes, property, and livelihoods; reports of arrests and the seizure of private property; threats to medical and humanitarian facilities and services; and the extension of the fighting’s consequences to one of the world’s most important international maritime corridors.
The killing of the three children in Al-Turayrah village is a particularly serious incident requiring the identification of the source of the attack, its intended target, and the type of weapon used, especially as all reported fatalities were children between the ages of two and 14.
At the same time, the increase in the number of displaced people to 104,796 demonstrates that the humanitarian consequences continue to expand and that figures announced in previous days were inherently provisional amid ongoing and rapidly changing displacement movements.
Reports of missiles falling in Bani Suraym and Al-Jarib raise additional concerns regarding the risks posed by long-range weapons when they fail to reach their intended targets or travel near populated areas. The circumstances of each incident require an independent technical investigation before legal responsibility can be determined.
Al-Nashiri’s testimony concerning the looting of her home, together with reports of the seizure of property from medical and humanitarian facilities in Al-Khawkhah and other coastal areas, highlight broader risks to the protection of civilian property and humanitarian infrastructure in areas experiencing changes in military control.
The sharp decline in shipping traffic through Bab el-Mandeb adds a regional and international dimension to the crisis. Disruption to this corridor threatens not only vessels and their crews but may also affect humanitarian and commercial supply flows, increase transportation costs, and delay the delivery of essential goods to Yemen and other countries dependent on this maritime route.
SAM stresses that international humanitarian law requires parties to the conflict to distinguish between civilians and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives, to respect the principle of proportionality, and to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians. It also prohibits pillage, attacks against civilians, and collective punishment, and requires respect for and protection of medical units, humanitarian operations, and civilian vessels.
SAM calls for independent and effective investigations into the killing of the three children in Al-Wazi'iyah; the missile incident in Bani Suraym and the reported deaths of migrants; the missile fall in Al-Jarib village; allegations concerning the looting of homes and medical and humanitarian facilities in Al-Mokha, Al-Khawkhah, and other areas along the western coast; and the detentions in Sana’a. Such investigations should ensure the protection of victims and witnesses, the preservation of evidence, and accountability for any violations established.
SAM also calls on all parties to refrain from any actions that could unlawfully endanger civilian and humanitarian navigation through Bab el-Mandeb and to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that routes used to transport food, medicine, and humanitarian assistance remain accessible.
SAM continues to collect information and verify the names of victims and injured persons, the identities of detainees, attack locations, types of weapons used and their points of origin, and the scale of property and facilities damaged or seized, while distinguishing between incidents supported by multiple sources, individual testimonies, and allegations that still require independent verification.