A/HRC/42/CRP.1 private sector face financial burdens due to the delays of ships anchoring outside of Hodeidah in deep water; costs amounting to more than US$10,000 per ship per day. These additional costs will be eventually borne by Yemeni consumers, who are already poor and financially stretched.”1237 The restrictions on food, fuel, and commercial imports worsened the food insecurity as well as significantly weakened the Yemeni economy. The delay and diversion of fuel tankers had an important impact, not only on the economy, but also on agriculture and health, as fuel is needed to power hospital’s generators and to pump water to homes and for irrigation.1238 While the blockade was gradually eased, some restrictions set up in November 2017 still remained at the time of this report. For example, the port of al-Hudaydah remained closed to cargo containers (except for one instance in 2018). (b) Siege-like warfare by the Houthis and Yemeni armed forces 773. Siege-like warfare as used by the Houthis around Ta’izz city since August 2015 and reported in Hajjah since the end of 2018 has also exacerbated the humanitarian situation, including by significantly impeding humanitarian access. Ta’izz 774. In August 2015, Houthi-Saleh fighters took control of the area surrounding Ta’izz, and blocked most of the routes in and out of the city for several months, impeding the delivery of humanitarian aid, food, and medical supplies to civilians in the city. The “acute shortage” of food caused a “sharp increase in the price of food,” making some staples, such as flour and rice, unaffordable for most of the population. 1239 This was compounded by the fact that these same populations also could not access free aid supplies when humanitarian organizations did reach their areas.1240 (See “Further humanitarian access restrictions” below). As the blockade wore on, food stocks within the city were depleted and food prices soared out of reach. Instead, people began to rely on food and consumer goods that were being brought in through the Talooq Mountain road, which became known as the “path of death” or the “path of donkeys” due to the treacherous journey to make it across. The prices of medicine and consumer goods also spiked due to increased cost of transporting goods into the city through checkpoints.1241 (For additional details, see chapter on Ta’izz, section on the “siege” of Ta’izz). Hajjah 775. During at least two months before active hostilities broke out in Hajour in January 2019, there were reports that the Houthis had encircled the city, setting up checkpoints at its various entry points and imposing various restrictions, hence creating a “siege” or “enclave. When the hostilities broke out, cars were no longer let into Hajour. It was reported that water and food were also blocked from entering, in addition to numerous humanitarian access impediments. Because of the lack of humanitarian access, it has been impossible for relief actors to estimate the number of internally displaced persons in Hajjah, which is known to be the governorate that hosts the most internally displaced persons. It was reported to the Group of Experts that commercial goods were again allowed into Hajour once the Houthis had gained control of the city, while humanitarian relief actors were still unable to access the area in a sustained manner to resume their operations by the time of writing. (For additional details, see chapter on Sana’a and northern areas, section on Hajjah). Al-Durayhimi 1237 Ibid. Human Rights Watch, Yemen: Events of 2018, WORLD REPORT 2019, available at https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/yemen. 1239 Mwatana, Chapter from Hell, p. 70. 1240 Ibid. 1241 Ibid. at 72. 1238 185