Ships are docked next to giant cranes at a container terminal at the Red Sea port of Hudaydah, Yemen November 16, 2016.

The United Nations on Monday rejected a call by the Arab coalition for the key port of Hudaydah to be placed under its supervision.

The coalition made the appeal following an attack on a boat carrying Somali refugees off the coast of Yemen that killed 42 people, and as the country faced famine.

UN spokesman Farhan Haq said the warring sides in Yemen have a responsibility to protect civilian infrastructure and civilians. “These are not obligations they can shift to others,” Haq said.

Houthi militias fighting the Yemeni government control Hodeida, which is a key transit point for desperately needed imports.

The coalition said in a statement Sunday that it was not responsible for the attack on the refugee boat in the area of Hudaydah and called for the port to be “placed immediately under United Nations supervision.”

Hudaydah serves 70 percent of the country’s population affected by a severe food crisis in Yemen, which is almost entirely dependent on imports of food and other commodities.

“The humanitarian community delivers assistance in Yemen solely based on needs and not on political considerations, and will continue to do so through all available means,” added Haq.

About 7.3 million people in Yemen are in dire need of food aid in the largest food insecurity emergency in the world, according to the United Nations.

Placing Hudaydah under UN supervision would “facilitate the flow of humanitarian supplies to the Yemeni people, while at the same time ending the use of the port for weapons smuggling and people trafficking,” said the coalition statement.