The lack of fuel has a "cascading impact on several vital sectors" - water and sanitation as well as health and food, as prices have risen sharply
* Red Cross says purchasing fuel for water systems as "stop-gap"
* Agency buying fuel for Hodeidah and Taiz, 2 of 9 stricken cities
* Aid supplies resume, but commercial imports needed in Yemen
* NRC's Jan Egeland tweets: ""Lifeline still not restored" (Adds tweet by Egeland in new 10th para, ICRC on hospitals 13th)
By Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday it was making a "stop-gap" purchase of fuel so as to provide clean water to one million people in the Yemeni cities of Hodeidah and Taiz for one month.
The fuel shortage in Yemen has become "critical" under the Saudi-led coalition's blockade, partially lifted this week, leaving water systems in nine cities without fuel to run pumps, ICRC spokeswoman Iolanda Jaquemet said.
"As a last resort and in light of the large and urgent needs...we are purchasing fuel to supply the urban water corporations in Hodeidah and Taiz with fuel, enough to operate their water pumps for one month," Jaquemet told Reuters.
The ICRC is buying 750,000 litres of fuel for the two cities, she said, calling it "an exceptional stop-gap measure".
The lack of fuel has a "cascading impact on several vital sectors" - water and sanitation as well as health and food, as prices have risen sharply, she said. Fuel is needed to transport goods and run hospital generators and maintain cold chains for vaccines and medicines.
Saudi Arabia and its allies closed air, land and sea access to the Arabian Peninsula country on Nov. 6, to stop what it calls a flow of arms to the Houthis from Iran. The action came after Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile fired towards its capital Riyadh.
Iran has denied supplying the Houthis with weapons.
A first aid ship, carrying 5,500 tonnes of flour docked in the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah on the Red Sea on Sunday.
"Humanitarian aid has started coming in and it's a very welcome first step but we need commercial imports," Jaquemet said.
Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council which is providing aid to one million Yemenis, said in a tweet: "Lifeline still not restored: Aden & Jizan Ports can only handle a fraction of needs in #Yemen. No viable substitute for Hodeida Port."
ICRC trucks have brought medical material into Yemen this week, mainly badly needed dialysis material, Jaquemet said.
A shipment of kits for treating 400 wounded is expected to berth in Aden shortly, for distribution throughout the country, she said.
More than a dozen health facilities have already been forced to close for lack of water, she said.
The ICRC is stepping up assistance to combat an outbreak of diphtheria in Ibb governorate, including protective equipment for hospital staff to avoid spread of the highly-infectious respiratory disease, she said.
Some suspected diphtheria cases and 20 deaths have been recorded in 13 governorates, more than 80 percent in Ibb, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Catherine Evans and William Maclean)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
