TWO-THIRDS of Yemen’s people are in need of aid but unlikely to receive any, a top humanitarian aid worker said today.

In a blog for Al Jazeera, Norwegian Refugee Council secretary-general Jan Egeland wrote that he had seen “some of the worst conflicts and disasters in the world.

“But I have rarely witnessed a situation as dire as Yemen, where two-thirds of the population needs aid.”

He said a recent UN-backed conference intended to secure more aid pledges “was a sobering reminder of how far we are from being able to adequately support the Yemeni people, who have been brought to their knees by eight years of conflict.”

“It also sends a signal that some lives are less valuable than others,” Mr Egeland added.

He said that only a quarter of the $4.3 billion (£3.5bn) needed for this year’s humanitarian response had been promised and less than 5 per cent actually provided.

“This means that aid organisations are being forced to triage the vulnerable in an emergency ward of despair,” he noted.

“Nations that are willing to provide billions to wage war are now committing Yemen’s most vulnerable to another year of suffering, another year without enough food on their plates, without the support they need to live a dignified life,” Mr Egeland said.

“This is not a problem of finite resources; it is one of political will.”

The war in Yemen has now been going on for nearly eight years, despite diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting.

At least 10 soldiers were reportedly  killed in renewed fighting this week as Houthi rebels staged an attack in oil-producing Marib province.

At least four soldiers were fatally shot in the same area a month ago.

There are hopes that a deal, brokered by China earlier this month, to restore diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia will help to restore peace in Yemen.

The war began in 2014 when Houthi rebels took control of the capital Sanaa.

A Saudi-led regional coalition, backed by the United States and Britain, intervened against the Houthis and has been fighting the Iranian-backed movement since then.

The conflict has left millions of Yemenis in need of humanitarian help to stave off hunger. They include millions of children who urgently require treatment for malnutrition.