US Will Restart Humanitarian Aid to Houthi-Controlled Yemen

Amid growing talk of the famine in northern Yemen, the Biden Administration has informed Congress that the US intends to restart its humanitarian aid program in that part of the country.

This comes as the administration shows reluctance to continue backing the Saudi war in Yemen, though they remain broadly supportive of the blockade that is fueling that famine. The Trump Administration cut off food aid to northern Yemen, citing concerns about aid theft.

Trump was going hard in backing the Yemen War though, in no small part because of Saudi arms sales. The famine was largely ignored because the focus was on the Houthis being in some way in league with Iran.

Yemen is almost entirely reliant on imported food, growing almost none of its own. During the war, the Saudis have blockaded the populous north, arguing that aid ships might be carrying arms. In reality, this kept food at a starvation level, and medicine virtually unobtainable, killing large numbers of Yemenis.