UN Security Council condemns Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia

The United Nations Security Council on Friday condemned escalating attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemeni Houthi fighters in a rare show of unity from the UN's top body.

The Houthis have imposed a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, hitting its tankers, seizing swathes of Yemen's Red Sea coast vital for oil exports and causing energy prices to jump, while also raining missiles on the kingdom.

"The members of the Security Council condemned, in the strongest terms, continued Houthi attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including attacks impacting civilian and energy infrastructure, which have resulted in the injury of civilians, including women and children," said the rotating president of the council, French UN envoy Jerome Bonnafont, delivering a joint statement.

Deepening humanitarian crisis

The council stressed the importance of upholding international law and freedom of navigation.

The body also "demanded the Houthis immediately cease their military escalation and their attacks impacting civilians and civilian objects," according to the statement.

Houthi gains in recent weeks cemented the hold of Iran and its allies on the two waterways that the wider Gulf, including top crude exporter Saudi Arabia, relies on to ship out oil and other fuel products. The other key waterway is the Strait of Hormuz.

The UN refugee agency chief, Barham Salih, warned on Friday that "the latest escalation is also very disconcerting."

"(In) Yemen's deepening humanitarian crisis, where civilians continue to bear the brunt of this conflict, tens of thousands of people have already been displaced by the recent escalation and hostilities, with thousands fleeing the conflict, looking for safety in Djibouti and elsewhere," he said. "More crossings are reported to be underway."

Over 3,500 people have made the dangerous journey across the water to the east African nation of Djibouti, the International Organisation of Migration said.

The Security Council statement called for "full, safe, rapid, and unhindered humanitarian access to all civilians in need."

Agence France-Presse