Yemen's Taiz loses water access as siege tightens

Yemeni officials report that residents of Taiz have lost access to approximately 3 million liters of water per day. Governor Nabil Shamsan stated that wells in Wadi al-Dhubab, which now sit under Houthi control, provided this volume. The city serves as a gateway to the south and currently houses about half of the population displaced by recent fighting.

Shamsan said Houthi forces have deployed reinforcements to multiple fronts, encircling the city on all four sides. The Taiz governor urged the international community to help protect civilians and reopen roads into the city. He noted that limited resources are straining the local infrastructure as the population grows.

Eshraq al-Maqtari, the legal affairs minister, provided additional figures on the intensity of the conflict. She said more than 2,000 projectiles and explosives struck city districts in recent days. Al-Maqtari called for measures to cut off the rebels' weapon supplies and funding streams.

In a separate incident, Houthi-run health authorities reported that Saudi-led airstrikes hit a crowded market in al-Hazm on Wednesday. The ministry said 13 people died and 16 others were wounded, including three women. The strike targeted a central market near a gas station while it was packed with shoppers. The ministry described the attack as a war crime requiring an international investigation.

The Saudi-backed Yemeni government did not immediately respond to the Houthi claims. In the southern city of Aden, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree urged people to evacuate the airport after explosions shattered windows. Saree claimed a Saudi military cargo plane carrying weapons was present, though he provided no evidence.

In Belgrade, a police officer shot and killed a man who attacked him with two knives at the Israeli Embassy just after midnight. Serbia's Interior Minister Ivica Dacic classified the incident as a terrorist attack. Dacic described the attacker as a minor who shouted Allahu Akbar. The officer, who suffered a slight facial wound, killed the assailant in self-defense.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held phone calls with his Saudi and Emirati counterparts to discuss political solutions. Egypt's lawmakers approved a decision to provide military support to Saudi Arabia against Houthi attacks in a closed-door vote earlier this week. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a recent meeting in Tehran advanced regional dialogue, though he offered no specific details on the outcome.