HALF of Yemen’s population are facing “pre-famine conditions,” a United Nations report warned today as the war-ravaged country’s humanitarian catastrophe deepens.

UN humanitarian co-ordinator Mark Lowcock said the latest figures put the number relying entirely on aid for survival at 14 million, three million higher than previously thought.

The findings came as Western support for Saudi Arabia, which has led a three-year bombing campaign in Yemen, comes under scrutiny following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The Saudi-led war – conducted with support and weapons from Western countries including Britain and the United States – has seen numerous attacks on civilian targets including weddings, hospitals, infrastructure and even a school bus full of children, leading to accusations of war crimes.

In the latest atrocity, 21 civilians, including children, were killed yesterday in a coalition air strike on a fruit-and-vegetable market near the rebel-held port of Hodeida, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said today. Ten more were wounded.

Mr Lowcock told the UN security council that the danger of famine was much bigger than anything any professional in this field has seen during their working lives.

“There is now a clear and present danger of an imminent and great big famine,” he told council diplomats, warning that 130 children under the age of five were dying every day in Yemen.

Almost 7,000 civilians have been killed during the war, which aims to reinstall Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi as president after he was ousted by Houthi rebels in January 2015.

A blockade of Hodeida has cut access to food and medical supplies, leaving 22 million people in need of humanitarian aid – the world’s largest food security emergency –  and sparked a cholera outbreak affecting 1.1 million people.

The latest figures coincide with recent reports warning of the worst famine in Yemen for 100 years.

UN reports have previously highlighted the worsening situation, but Mr Lowcock warned today that it was “now much graver” due to the number of people at risk.

“The toll is unbearably high. The immune systems of millions of people on survival support for years on end are now literally collapsing, making them – especially children and the elderly – more likely to succumb to malnutrition, cholera and other diseases," he warned.

Mr Lowcock called for an end to hostilities and renewed peace talks to end the humanitarian crisis.