The U.N.’s humanitarian chief has issued another warning about the impending disaster in Yemen:

There is now a clear and present danger of an imminent and great big famine engulfing #Yemen: much bigger than anything any professional in this field has encountered during their working lives. — Mark Lowcock (@UNReliefChief) October 23, 2018

The number of Yemenis at risk of starvation now stands at 14 million:

UN aid chief Mark Lowcock telling the Security Council that up to 14 million in #Yemen are hurtling towards famine (to most their current conditions likely would appear beyond “pre-famine” conditions, as the UN terms it). — Samuel Oakford (@samueloakford) October 23, 2018

The mass starvation of up to 14 million people is an unfathomable crime against humanity. All parties to the conflict are responsible for creating these conditions, but the Saudi coalition and its Western patrons bear the largest share because they have been the ones blockading the country, systematically targeting food production and distribution, wrecking civilian infrastructure, and devastating the economy. The coalition and its patrons are doubly at fault because they have it within their power to alleviate the suffering of millions of Yemenis, but have chosen instead to worsen it for the sake of pursuing their unrealistic goals. The policy of deliberately starving Yemen’s population has been happening in front of the entire world and has been carried out with the support of many of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful states. If something isn’t done to stave off famine in Yemen, the U.S.-backed war will likely be responsible for the single largest loss of life from conflict since the end of WWII.

If 13-14 million Yemenis die from man-made famine, the country will have lost a larger percentage of its population because of this war than Cambodia lost during the genocide. This is why Yemen is undoubtedly the most important story in the world, and it is why ending U.S. involvement in the war and forcing a halt to the fighting immediately are so crucial for the people of Yemen. There is not much time left to avert a truly horrific man-made disaster, and many tens of thousands of Yemenis it is already too late. Unless conditions improve quickly and dramatically, many millions more innocent people will perish from preventable causes.