The Yemeni government’s Executive Unit for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) observed a large wave of conflict migrants fleeing Al-Jawf government to neighboring Marib governorate amid intense clashes between Houthis and the Yemeni army.

The rebels seized control of Al-Jawf’s capital Al-Hazm on Sunday, giving the Houthis the upper hand in the strategically located governorate that borders Saudi Arabia to the north and the oil-rich government stronghold of Marib to the south. 

The executive unit expects the number of displaced families fleeing Al-Jawf to reach about 25,000 over the next 24 hours.

“The displacement is beyond our capacity and the capacity of the local authority, the community and organizations operating in Marib to absorb this wave of displacement,” the unit said in a statement.

The executive unit has launched a distress call for all international organizations and humanitarian actors to act urgently in response to the unfolding humanitarian disaster. It warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if military escalation continues in the difficult humanitarian conditions facing populations in Al-Jawf, most of whom have already been displaced.