Over 10,000 people have died in the war in Yemen, which has entered its fourth year, and about 80 percent of the population is in need of humanitarian aid. Despite the gravity of the situation, Yemen’s conflict, which has been described as the “forgotten war” by Amnesty International, receives very little media coverage.

Western news outlets consistently portray the conflict as a proxy war between Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and Yemenis. However, less attention has been focused on the toxic relationship between the West and the Saudi and UAE-led coalition that supports the Yemeni government.

Since the war began in 2015, the US and the UK have sold more than $12bn worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia alone. Consequently, Western military assistance has fueled numerous deadly coalition airstrikes throughout Yemen. Human Rights Watch has documented 85 apparently unlawful coalition airstrikes, which have killed nearly 1,000 civilians and hit homes, markets, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

According to The Intercept’s Alex Emmons, US and UK media coverage on the war in Yemen represents a “shocking failure of journalists to push back on the government’s own narratives.” Accurate and proportionate media coverage will be required to deter the West from continuing to fund the conflict in Yemen.