File - Houthi rebel fighters march during a rally of support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and against the U.S. strikes on Yemen outside Sanaa on Jan. 22, 2024. (AP Photo, File)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Yemen risks being dragged further into the military escalation in the Middle East that keeps intensifying and could spiral out of control, the U.N. special envoy for the Arab world’s poorest nation said Tuesday.

Hans Grundberg told the U.N. Security Council that regrettably Yemen is part of the escalation — and he warned that repeated attacks on international shipping by its Houthi rebels “have significantly increased the risk of an environment disaster” in the Red Sea.

Both Grundberg and the U.N.’s acting humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya urged the Iranian-backed Houthis to halt their attacks on international shipping, which the rebel group began to support fellow Iranian-backed militant group Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack in Israel that sparked Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.

The U.N. officials also demanded the release of dozens of U.N. personnel, staff of non-governmental organizations and diplomatic missions, and members of civil society, most detained since June.

Msuya called the Houthis’ recent referral of a significant number of those detained for “criminal prosecution” unacceptable and accusations against them false. She said three are U.N. personnel – two from the Paris-based U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and one from the Geneva-based U.N. human rights office. They were detained earlier in 2021 and 2023.

Days after the June detentions, the Houthis said those being held were members of what they called an “American-Israeli spy network,” an allegation vehemently denied by the U.N., NGO organizations, governments and others.

The Houthis have been engaged in a civil war with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, since 2014, when they took control of the capital Sanaa and most of the north. Hopes for peace talks vanished after the Oct. 7 attack, which killed about 1,200 people in Israel, mainly civilians, and saw about 250 taken hostage, with about 100 still being held. . Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were fighters but say women and children make up more than half of the fatalities.

Grundberg told council members “Yemenis continue to yearn and work for peace,” but he said hopes for progress to end the escalating violence in the Middle East “seem distant.”

“Now, like many in the Middle East, their hopes for a brighter future are falling under the shadow of potentially catastrophic regional conflagration,” he said.

The Houthis have targeted more than 80 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started a year ago. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that also killed four sailors, and have seriously disrupted traffic in the Red Sea which once saw $1 trillion in goods move through it in a year.

Grundberg said the Houthi attack on the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion in August narrowly avoided an environmental disaster and warned that repeated attacks increase the risk of an environmental catastrophe.

In response to the Houthi attacks, a U.S.-led coalition has carried out airstrikes in Yemen, and the Israelis have attacked the port of Hodeida, a key location for delivery of aid and commercial goods which are critical as the country is reliant on imports.

Msuya said the U.N. is “very alarmed” at the ongoing attacks on Hodeida and the smaller port of Ras Issa. The airstrikes damaged critical energy and port infrastructure but she said both ports are able to receive commercial and humanitarian imports.

“Power stations throughout Hodeida city are, however, running at very limited capacity,” Msuya said, and the U.N. is assisting health facilities to continue essential services.

Last month, Msuya told the council the U.N. was cutting back its activities in Yemen in response to the Houthi crackdown on staff working for the U.N. and other groups.

She warned the council on Tuesday that despite escalating needs, the arbitrary detentions and “false accusations against them continue to significantly hinder our ability to provide life saving humanitarian assistance in Yemen.”

“The humanitarian situation in Yemen continues to worsen, both in scale and severity,” Msuya said, and “hunger continues to rise.”

The number of Yemenis without enough to eat “soared to unprecedented levels” in August, and in Houthi-controlled areas severe levels of food deprivation have doubled since last year, she said.

Msuya said the U.N. appeal for $2.7 billion for Yemen this year to help 11.2 million people is 41% funded. She said $870 million is needed urgently, and warned that without the additional funds 9 million Yemenis across the country won’t get emergency food aid in the last quarter of this year.

While cholera continues to spread, with more than 203,000 suspected cases and over 720 deaths since March, Msuya said cholera funding has already run out, and the U.N.’s health partners have been forced to close 21 of 78 diarrhea treatment centers and 97 of 423 oral rehydration centers.