Between Shopping and Death: Saudi-led Coalition Airstrikes Turn Al-Wazi’iyah Market into a Scene of a Massacre
A statement of condemnation issued by the Entesaf Organization for Women and Child Rights regarding the targeting of a crowded civilian marketplace in the Al-Wazi’iyah District, Taiz Governorate.
The Entesaf Organization for Women and Child Rights condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the horrific crime committed by the Saudi-led coalition this Friday morning. The coalition targeted the Al-Hadara marketplace in the Al-Wazi’iyah District of Taiz Governorate with three airstrikes while it was packed with civilians and shoppers. This direct assault on a civilian gathering has resulted in over 30 civilian casualties—including both those killed and wounded—a figure that is not final and is expected to rise.
The organization asserts that targeting a marketplace teeming with civilians—including women, children, workers, and shoppers—constitutes a grave violation of the rules of international humanitarian law. This includes, in particular, the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Additional Protocol I of 1977, which mandate the protection of the civilian population and civilian objects, prohibit attacks directed against them, and require the aggressor to adhere to the principles of distinction and proportionality. Furthermore, this attack infringes upon the right to life, as guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The organization condemns the fact that the search for the bodies of the missing and the victims at the targeted site is taking place while aircraft continue to fly overhead. This exacerbates the suffering of civilians, hinders rescue and emergency efforts, and increases the risks faced by teams attempting to recover victims and save the injured.
The organization emphasizes that the massacre at Al-Hadara Market is not an isolated incident; rather, it is part of a long, twelve-year record of crimes and violations targeting public markets and civilian gatherings in Yemen. These attacks have claimed civilian lives, destroyed livelihoods, and transformed spaces intended for commerce, work, and daily life into scenes of death and destruction. This necessitates a comprehensive documentation of these crimes, thorough investigations into each incident, and the prosecution of those responsible—ensuring that impunity is not allowed to persist.
Targeting public markets—places crowded with civilians—poses a direct threat to the right to life, security, and physical safety. It constitutes a violation of the legal safeguards designed to protect civilians during armed conflict, particularly women and children, who bear a disproportionate share of the humanitarian consequences of such attacks.
Entisaf Organization holds the Saudi-led coalition legally responsible for this attack and its subsequent repercussions. It calls for an independent and transparent international investigation to establish the circumstances of the crime, determine accountability, and ensure that all those involved are held to account in accordance with international law, leaving no room for impunity. The organization further calls upon the United Nations, the Human Rights Council, and various international and human rights organizations to fulfill their legal and humanitarian responsibilities. This includes documenting this crime—along with all other crimes committed against civilians in Yemen—referring available evidence to the competent judicial authorities, taking effective measures to ensure the protection of civilians and the cessation of attacks, and guaranteeing unimpeded access for rescue and medical teams.
Entisaf Organization asserts that crimes involving the targeting of civilians, markets, and civilian infrastructure are not subject to a statute of limitations. The passage of time neither erases the impact of these acts nor extinguishes the right of victims and their families to justice, redress, and reparation. Legal accountability remains, and impunity must not be the outcome for those who have suffered through twelve years of crimes and violations.
Issued by: Entisaf Organization for Women and Child Rights
Sanaa – November 6, 2026