Over the past few days, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams in Aden and Mocha have been exposed to a series of incidents that further restrict humanitarian access and the provision of medical care to people in Yemen.
This morning, on Monday 26 October, three strikes hit the coastal area of Mocha. One of them fell only 150 metres away from Mocha General hospital, where our teams are working in the maternity and paediatric wards. While all staff and patients are safe, the strike caused damages to the building that may weaken the structure in the longer-term — a building already weakened by years of regular blasts.
The strike also created panic among patients, medical staff, and civilians, further limiting their safe access to healthcare. Such incidents are preventing patients from coming to the hospital, fearing for their lives. With every strike around the hospital, there is a decrease in the number of patients coming to seek care.
A few days earlier, while an MSF plane was about to take off from Aden’s airport on a routine flight intended to carry humanitarian workers, a missile hit the vicinity of the airport. The plane was forced to stay on the ground, and the staff were asked not to board but to seek shelter inside the airport instead. Aden's airport is the main entry point for humanitarian workers, supplies, and medical equipment to the southern parts of Yemen, and accessing it safely is crucial.
These incidents, among others, are exposing MSF and other humanitarian organisations in Yemen to more threats, directly impacting the capacity to urgently operate and reach people, at a time where their needs are highest and the provision of humanitarian care is essential.
We reiterate to all parties to the conflict that humanitarian and medical workers, as well as medical facilities and patients, and access to care, must be protected.
Yemen
Yemen: Renewed fighting puts pressure on the health system and increases people's humanitarian needs
Project Update
15 Sep 2026