Yemen, a country consumed by internal conflict and ignored by the rest of the world, is running out of time.

It’s now 11 days into a Saudi blockade on almost all of Yemen’s ports and airspace, and the UN has warned that the country faces “the largest famine the world has seen for many decades, with millions of victims” if Riyadh doesn’t lift the restrictions which are strangling the supply of food and aid to the 7.3 million people in Yemen already on the brink of famine.

In a country where 20 million are reliant on aid and amid the world’s worst ever cholera outbreak, every moment is crucial. The blockade so far is estimated to have pushed an additional 3.2 million people into hunger.

Marib General Hospital is a beacon for those in need in Yemen

If the status quo remains, 150,000 malnourished children will die within the next few months, the World Food Programme has said.

As part of a series of bold moves with ripple effects across the Middle East last week, Saudi Arabia retaliated to a 4 November rebel Houthi ballistic missile from Yemen that was intercepted near the capital’s airport with a complete shutdown of even government-controlled routes in and out of the country.

The unprecedented move was designed to show that weapons smuggling to the Iran-backed Houthis would not be tolerated. After international outcry, the UK and US-supported Saudi-led Arab coalition reopened some air and sea ports in loyalist areas – but most of the major import routes, including the port of Hodeida, from where the majority of Yemen’s imports flow, remain shut.

“Since the blockade started, 13 vessels that had been cleared by the UN have been turned back or forced to leave Hodeida port, and prices of basic commodities are starting to rise steeply as a result of the cut in supply,” Caroline Anning, Save the Children’s senior conflict and humanitarian adviser, told The Independent.

“The impact on families who are already struggling to afford even a meal a day is catastrophic.”

‘They said the Americans were coming and they were going to try and change things,’ an injured 20-year-old Houthi fighter says

As well as the proxy powers of Saudi Arabia and Iran which are back opposing sides in Yemen’s civil war, there is a complicated domestic framework encompassing the desires of hundreds of different tribes and political players.

On a visit to loyalist Marib province earlier this month, The Independent met local sheiks who expressed sadness at the “humanitarian shame” the war had brought to their country, which struggled with high levels of poverty before the war broke out in March 2015.

But while political and military figures may have their eyes on the bigger picture, some on the ground don’t even know what they’re really fighting for.

In Marib’s general hospital – where almost every bed was filled by a soldier injured on the front line – one room was empty except for a solitary Houthi fighter, whose only company was the guard outside the door.

“They told me I’d be fighting Americans and Israelis,” the 20-year-old with bandages on his left arm and leg said. “Protecting Yemenis, not fighting them. They said the Americans were coming and they were going to try and change things.”

The young man, who did not give his name, only spent three months on the front line before being shot and wounded. Tribal fighters loyal to the exiled government brought him to Marib, where he effectively remains a prisoner of war.

The situation in Yemen Show all 14 1 /14 The situation in Yemen The situation in Yemen Houthi supporters trample on a US flag during a gathering mobilizing more fighters into several Yemeni battlefronts, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen People carry the coffins of men, who were killed in the recent Saudi-led airstrikes during their funeral, in the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen AP The situation in Yemen Pro-government fighters give food to Yemeni children on the road leading to the southwestern port city of Mokha. Yemeni rebels are putting up fierce resistance in a key Red Sea port city where they are encircled by pro-government force Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni stands in front of a graffiti protesting US military operations in war-affected Yemen, in Sana'a, Yemen. According to reports, US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen A Yemeni female fighter supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, takes part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen Yemeni female fighters supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, take part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A boy shouts slogans next to pro-Houthi fighters, who have been injured during recent fighting, during a rally held to honour those injured or maimed while fighting in Houthi ranks in Sanaa, Yemen Reuters The situation in Yemen Balls of fire and smoke rise from a Houthi-held military camp following alleged Saudi-led airstrikes, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy looks on as Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy sits amidst the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa AFP/Getty The situation in Yemen Marine One with US President Donald Trump flies with a decoy and support helicopters to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, for the dignified transfer of Navy Seal Chief Petty Officer William 'Ryan' Owens who was killed in Yemen Getty Images The situation in Yemen US President Donald Trump aboard the Marine One to greet the remains of a US military commando killed during a raid on the al Qaeda militant group in southern Yemen on Sunday, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, US Reuters

Once his wounds heal, he doesn’t know what will happen – but he expressed more worry about his family on the other side of the front line, where cholera is rife and basic foodstuffs and fuel are cripplingly expensive.

The new blockade put in place since then has sent food and fuel prices soaring, and the situation is not sustainable.

On Thursday, the leaders of the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and the World Food Programme issued a joint appeal for the easing of the blockade.

The sentiment was echoed by the UK Foreign Office, which said in a statement the British Government is “deeply concerned by the risk of a serious deterioration of the humanitarian situation”.

Yemen: More than 50,000 children expected to die of starvation and disease by end of year

Aid agencies worry, however, that the damage for millions may have already been done.

“Yemen was already on the brink,” Farea al-Muslimi, co-founder of independent think tank the Sanaa Centre for Strategic Studies, previously told The Independent.