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The war the world forgot.
The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse has just returned from Yemen, where he had rare access to the scale of the humanitarian crisis caused by what some are calling the "forgotten war".
The bombing campaign in the skies over Yemen is in its sixth month now. Every day, residents of the capital, Sanaa, listen nervously for the rumble of jets. They know what will follow: a flash in the sky, a sickening pause, then the thud and boom of explosions as the missiles strike.
The aim of the Saudi-led coalition is to oust Houthi rebels from the city. The Houthis took Sanaa last year, with the help of forces loyal to Yemen's ousted former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and the support of Iran.
In response, Saudi Arabia, Iran's regional rival, has imposed a blockade on the north of the country, controlling what comes in by land, sea and air.
"Yemen is one of the world's worst crises," says Tariq Riebl, head of programmes in Yemen for the charity Oxfam.
.
The airstrikes are backed by a resolution at the United Nations Security Council. But the UN's top humanitarian official in Yemen, Johannes van der Klaauw, says attacks on civilian infrastructure are violations of the laws of war.
"Schools and hospitals, markets, enterprises and factories should not be stricken, should not be shelled. Even in warfare there are certain rules, and they are being violated in this conflict," he said.
Since the conflict started, more than 2,000 civilians have been killed. Some are victims of months of vicious ground fighting between the two sides. Houthi soldiers, some of them no more than teenagers, are accused of firing heavy weapons in built-up areas.
But it is the Saudis and their coalition partners, mainly Gulf Arab countries including the United Arab Emirates, who have overwhelming force.
The coalition's efforts are supported by Britain and the United States. Both countries continue to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, and are providing the Saudi-led coalition with liaison officers and technical support.
Oxfam, whose own warehouse in Yemen has been hit by an airstrike, says the UK could be in breach of domestic and international laws on the sales of arms.
It's difficult to argue that a weapon sold to Saudi Arabia would not in some way be used in Yemen," says Mr Riebl.
"Or if it's not used in Yemen it enables the country to use other weapons in Yemen."
.
The combined effects of intense ground fighting, airstrikes and the blockade are having a devastating effect on the country.
A million and a half people have fled their homes, seeking shelter in makeshift camps. Half the population of Yemen doesn't know where the next meal will come from.
However at home...
Note how "unbiased" BBC titles the article as "unprecedented wave of executions", when in fact it is not just executions, it is beheadings.
At least we get the article, so...
Beheading with a sword is the most common form of execution.
Executions are often carried out in public.
Crimes that carry the death penalty include murder, adultery, treason, gay sex, drug offences, sorcery and witchcraft, and apostasy.
Human rights activists say those accused often do not receive fair trials.
The families of prisoners facing the death penalty are not always informed in advance of executions.
The case of the young Shia protester, Ali al-Nimr, who has become a poster boy for those facing execution, has drawn appeals from world leaders for King Salman to show mercy and refuse to sign his death warrant.
He was convicted of a string of offences, including attacking police with petrol bombs in anti-government protests in the east of the country when he was only 17 and still at school.
His family says the confession he made was coerced and he signed it after being told he would then be released.
While I would in no way suggest that we do to Saudis what has been done to Iraq, Libya and Syria, we should on the other hand
*stop selling them weapons
*stop participating in their initiatives to destabilize the countries around them (Yemen, Syria, Iran)
*even threaten to stop buying oil (yeah right, as if that is ever going to happen) if they do not stop the support for ISIS and the war in Yemen.
Another star for "stop demonizing other Middle Eastern dictators" in our own press, when we are in bed with the worst of them.
The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse has just returned from Yemen, where he had rare access to the scale of the humanitarian crisis caused by what some are calling the "forgotten war".
The bombing campaign in the skies over Yemen is in its sixth month now. Every day, residents of the capital, Sanaa, listen nervously for the rumble of jets. They know what will follow: a flash in the sky, a sickening pause, then the thud and boom of explosions as the missiles strike.
The aim of the Saudi-led coalition is to oust Houthi rebels from the city. The Houthis took Sanaa last year, with the help of forces loyal to Yemen's ousted former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and the support of Iran.
In response, Saudi Arabia, Iran's regional rival, has imposed a blockade on the north of the country, controlling what comes in by land, sea and air.
"Yemen is one of the world's worst crises," says Tariq Riebl, head of programmes in Yemen for the charity Oxfam.
.
The airstrikes are backed by a resolution at the United Nations Security Council. But the UN's top humanitarian official in Yemen, Johannes van der Klaauw, says attacks on civilian infrastructure are violations of the laws of war.
"Schools and hospitals, markets, enterprises and factories should not be stricken, should not be shelled. Even in warfare there are certain rules, and they are being violated in this conflict," he said.
Since the conflict started, more than 2,000 civilians have been killed. Some are victims of months of vicious ground fighting between the two sides. Houthi soldiers, some of them no more than teenagers, are accused of firing heavy weapons in built-up areas.
But it is the Saudis and their coalition partners, mainly Gulf Arab countries including the United Arab Emirates, who have overwhelming force.
The coalition's efforts are supported by Britain and the United States. Both countries continue to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, and are providing the Saudi-led coalition with liaison officers and technical support.
Oxfam, whose own warehouse in Yemen has been hit by an airstrike, says the UK could be in breach of domestic and international laws on the sales of arms.
It's difficult to argue that a weapon sold to Saudi Arabia would not in some way be used in Yemen," says Mr Riebl.
"Or if it's not used in Yemen it enables the country to use other weapons in Yemen."
.
The combined effects of intense ground fighting, airstrikes and the blockade are having a devastating effect on the country.
A million and a half people have fled their homes, seeking shelter in makeshift camps. Half the population of Yemen doesn't know where the next meal will come from.
However at home...
Note how "unbiased" BBC titles the article as "unprecedented wave of executions", when in fact it is not just executions, it is beheadings.
At least we get the article, so...
Beheading with a sword is the most common form of execution.
Executions are often carried out in public.
Crimes that carry the death penalty include murder, adultery, treason, gay sex, drug offences, sorcery and witchcraft, and apostasy.
Human rights activists say those accused often do not receive fair trials.
The families of prisoners facing the death penalty are not always informed in advance of executions.
The case of the young Shia protester, Ali al-Nimr, who has become a poster boy for those facing execution, has drawn appeals from world leaders for King Salman to show mercy and refuse to sign his death warrant.
He was convicted of a string of offences, including attacking police with petrol bombs in anti-government protests in the east of the country when he was only 17 and still at school.
His family says the confession he made was coerced and he signed it after being told he would then be released.
While I would in no way suggest that we do to Saudis what has been done to Iraq, Libya and Syria, we should on the other hand
*stop selling them weapons
*stop participating in their initiatives to destabilize the countries around them (Yemen, Syria, Iran)
*even threaten to stop buying oil (yeah right, as if that is ever going to happen) if they do not stop the support for ISIS and the war in Yemen.
Another star for "stop demonizing other Middle Eastern dictators" in our own press, when we are in bed with the worst of them.
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