75% Water Price Hike Hits Taiz Families as Houthi Siege Cuts Supply Lines

Yemen’s Taiz has struggled for clean water for over a decade, but aid groups say the situation has worsened sharply in recent weeks. Houthi rebels have tightened their siege around the city’s third-largest urban center, cutting off vital supply routes as fighting with government forces intensifies.

Humanitarian organizations report that the needs of more than one million residents are barely being met. Access to local wells is restricted, desalination plants lack fuel, and water trucks are largely blocked from entering the city. Families are stretching every available drop to survive.

Hadil al-Shahid, a salon owner, said she and her two young children previously used about 10 liters of bottled water daily for drinking and cooking. They now make that same amount last for four days. "We stopped drinking coffee and tea, which we used to drink daily," she said by phone. Bottled water prices have risen by as much as 75 percent compared to a few weeks ago, forcing some households to buy on credit.

The siege is driving up costs beyond water. Food prices are climbing due to shortages, and scarce fuel is hindering hospitals and sanitation services. Amnesty International urged the Houthis to open roads into the city immediately, warning that Taiz is being pushed to "the brink of a severe humanitarian disaster."

The conflict escalated after the Houthis captured the port city of Mokha in September, a move that controls key Red Sea shipping lanes. As rebels took land and roads around Taiz, residents lost access to wells and outside deliveries. Truckers who continue the dangerous trips have tripled their rates in some cases, while the water utility and desalination plants operate well below capacity.

Taiz province has absorbed roughly half of the people displaced elsewhere in Yemen since August. United Nations migration experts estimate this number at 124,000. Jens Laerke, a UN emergency aid spokesperson, said some displaced families live in tents and survive on one meal a day. Cooking gas prices have more than quadrupled, according to Hani Bafaqih of the aid group CARE, leading some families to burn wood, charcoal, or cardboard for heat.

Flour and rice cost about 50 percent more than in the summer. Fuel shortages have also shut down waste collection and hampered community kitchens. Laerke warned that these shortages feed into each other, increasing the risk of disease, including cholera, as thirsty families use unprotected wells. Ahmed Abdel Gaber, a displaced resident sheltering in building ruins, said his income from hauling construction material is no longer steady. "We heavily rely on assistance and donations from people to get food," he said.

Houthi missiles hit a residential area in Taiz earlier this week, killing two teenage girls. Abdel Gaber hears explosions daily from fighting about 5 kilometers away. Al-Shahid, whose daughter is 10 and son is 5, said she cannot afford to leave. "Staying in our home is inevitable," she said, "whether it be a matter of life or death."