2024 holds more violence and humanitarian disaster for Yemen

It's been difficult to find any kind of long-lasting peace in Yemen this year, despite the brief hope offered by a cease-fire negotiated between the two parties — the Houthis and the forces belonging to the internationally recognized government.

The cease-fire, first agreed in the spring and extended several times, lapsed in October when the two sides couldn't come to further agreement on it.

Despite the fragility of the agreement, it did give ordinary Yemenis some respite. According to the United Nations, there were no major military operations in the war and a 60% decrease in casualties.

The extent to which the war in Yemen is being fueled by external sources was shown at the beginning of December, thanks to the discovery of weapons on a fishing boat heading from Iran to Yemen, that was intercepted by the US Navy. Onboard, among other things, were a million rounds of ammunition, rocket fuses and fuel.

Meanwhile, Yemen's civilian population continues to suffer. More than 11,000 children have been injured or killed since fighting escalated in 2015, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund reported in mid-December.

According to other UN figures, around 375,000 people, or 1.25% of the total population, have been killed by wartime violence since 2015. More still have died due to hunger or disease. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs continues to call the situation in Yemen the worst humanitarian disaster in the world.

At the moment, Iran is coming under increasing international pressure because of the way the Iranian leadership is cracking down on pro-democracy protests inside its own country.The European Union has placed further sanctions on Iran and talks around the controversial nuclear agreement with Iran have stalled yet again.

However, none of this is likely to motivate Iran to end its sponsorship of the Houthis and therefore the devastating war in Yemen. As long as it goes on, the Houthis remain a tried and tested way for Iran to continue to put pressure on the international community.