The humanitarian situation in Tigray is increasingly dire, with 400,000 people living in famine-like conditions and more than two million people displaced; the need for humanitarian assistance is urgent. The conflict has spread into the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar, triggering mass displacement of civilians, increasing humanitarian needs. Tigrayan forces have also been accused of serious abuses against Amhara civilians, including summary executions and sexual violence. Restrictions on humanitarian assistance flows into Tigray and the Ethiopian government’s shutdown of essential services in the region such as banking and telecommunications, along with inadequate funding, means that relief agencies cannot proceed with planned activities, and in many cases are downsizing operations instead of being able to expand their reach to meet the growing needs of a population experiencing the combined impact of violence, hunger, climate-related hazards, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Civilian infrastructure, including water systems and health facilities have been looted and damaged, and humanitarian workers face violence; to date 23 aid workers have been killed. Hateful rhetoric and increased government hostility towards aid agencies also threaten to curtail an adequate response to growing humanitarian needs in the country. There have been credible allegations of widespread use of gender-based violence by all sides to the conflict, often in the form of gang rape, resulting in pregnancy, and in some instances, deliberate infection with HIV. The presence of multiple armed actors and obstruction of aid into Tigray has had a particularly devastating impact on survivors, denying them access to critical medical and psychosocial support. All parties to the conflict stand accused of human rights abuses, including sexual violence and killings of unarmed civilians. The report of OHCHR and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission found reasonable grounds to believe violations of international human rights, humanitarian, and refugee law and potentially war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed and require further independent investigation. Abuses by all warring parties show no signs of abating. Recently, security forces in Addis Ababa have been utilizing the cover of emergency powers to target Tigrayans, with increasing reports of ethnic profiling, arbitrary arrest and mass detention, including national UN staff and their dependents, in Addis and other parts of the country.  In western Tigray, thousands of Tigrayans have been forcibly displaced in recent weeks by Amhara forces. The Security Council must urgently demand all parties to the conflict allow full, rapid, safe, and unimpeded humanitarian access to all conflict-affected areas where civilians are in need of humanitarian assistance. Further, the Security Council should call for the urgent establishment of an independent international mechanism into human rights abuses and war crimes in conflict-affected areas of Tigray, Afar, and Amhara regions to ensure ongoing scrutiny, investigate and report on violations, collect and preserve evidence for future trials, and facilitate genuine accountability. The investigation should include all forms of gender-based violence, including rape as a weapon of war, attacks on health facilities, and obstruction of humanitarian assistance.