Hope Flickers in Devastated Yemen as Warring Sides Pledge Truce and UN-Led Peace Talks
- Warring factions in Yemen pledge a fresh UN-led truce and peace process.
- This follows a nine-year conflict with immense human costs and a humanitarian crisis.
- A previous UN-mediated truce in 2022 halted most fighting but expired in October.
The warring factions in Yemen have pledged to maintain a fresh truce and participate in a peace process overseen by the United Nations, the UN representative for Yemen announced on Saturday.
The declaration made by UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, represents the most recent move toward ending the catastrophic nine-year conflict that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and resulted in one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes in history.
It comes after Grundberg met recently in Saudi Arabia and Oman with Mohammed Abdul Salam, the senior negotiator for the Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran, and Rashad Al-Alimi, the leader of Yemen’s Presidential Council.
According to a statement from his office, Grundberg expressed his “welcome” for the parties’ commitment to a set of actions to execute a nationwide ceasefire and (to) engage in preparations for the restart of an inclusive political process.
The envoy “will now engage with the parties to establish a road map under UN auspices that includes these commitments and supports their implementation,” the statement added.
There was a dramatic drop in hostilities with the implementation of a truce mediated by the UN in April 2022. Even though the fighting has almost stopped, the truce expired in October of last year.
Now that these agreements have been made, Grundberg will “engage with the parties to establish a roadmap under UN auspices.”
According to the statement, it includes pledges to restore oil exports, open roads into the rebel-blockaded city of Taiz and other parts of Yemen, and pay civil servants’ salaries.
“Yemenis are watching and waiting for this new opportunity to provide for tangible results and progress toward lasting peace,” Grundberg said.
“The parties have taken a significant step. Their commitments are, first and foremost, an obligation to the Yemeni people.”
The deal was reached in response to the Houthi rebels’ furious strikes on vital Red Sea shipping lines, which they launched in support of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is engaged in combat with Hamas terrorists.
The Houthis have threatened to strike ships that are associated with Israel or that are sailing toward Israeli ports unless the Israel-Hamas conflict, which broke out on October 7, is resolved.
The Pentagon claims that they have launched over 100 drone and missile attacks, involving more than 35 different countries, that have targeted 10 merchant boats.
The US formed a multinational naval task force to defend Red Sea commerce because the rebels’ attacks are threatening a transit route that handles up to 12% of world trade.
Mohammed Albasha, a senior Middle East analyst for the US-based Navanti Group, told AFP that the Houthi “military actions hinder progress toward a peaceful resolution.”
“The Houthis have transitioned… to becoming aggressors targeting civilian assets,” he said.
After eight years, the rebels have taken over large areas of the nation and amassed a tremendous arsenal of weaponry, which they have utilized to launch attacks against other coalition members—Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Many commentators are skeptical that peace would be restored to Yemen, which is still severely divided along religious, regional, and political lines, as a result of Riyadh’s plans to reduce its military engagement.
