Covid-19 in War-Ravaged Yemen: Ends or doubles the war?

Abstract

Yemen is a suffering war zone since the beginning of the civil war in 2014, out of the clash between Yemeni government in Sana'a' and the Northern tribes, mainly, the Houthi insurgents. As of 2020, after two military interventions by the Saudi-led coalition the Operation Decisive Storm and the Operation Restoring Hope in 2015, the conditions for the people of Yemen are not endurable neither politically nor economically, considering the catastrophic impact of an open war, the blockade, cholera and finally Covid19,. Yemen was already the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula suffering from a variety of issues related to unemployment, chronic food insecurity, lack of clean water and sanitation system, repeated local conflicts and lack of central authority. Estimated number of people killed in turmoil since 2015 has reached 100,000, over 8000 of them are civilians;and 20,000 air raids by the Saudi-led coalition have been reported so far, according to the Yemen Data Project. Due to the ongoing conflict, more than three million people have been displaced, and over 24 million people -more than half of the total population- requires humanitarian aid.