The response was swift. In Yemen, less than an hour after Saudi Arabia proposed a ceasefire, Houthi rebels rejected it on Monday March 22. Riyadh is supporting government forces in the conflict that has lasted for more than six years, while the Houthis enjoy the support of Iran.
“Saudi Arabia must announce the end of the aggression and completely lift the blockade [sur le Yémen], because putting forward ideas that have been discussed for over a year is nothing new ”, justified a spokesman for the rebels, Mohammed Abdelsalam, according to the Houthi channel Al-Massirah.
Saudi Arabia, which has intervened militarily in Yemen since 2015, has made several proposals including “A comprehensive ceasefire throughout the country under the supervision of the United Nations”, she announced in a statement. Riyadh also proposed to reopen the airport in Sana’a, the Yemeni capital held by the rebels, and to restart political negotiations between the Yemeni government and the Houthis, it is added in the text.
An upsurge in Houthi attacks
The rebels had recently made the opening of all air and sea space in Yemen, under Saudi control, a prerequisite for any dialogue process. “We want the guns to be completely silent”Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Ben Farhane told reporters at a conference in Riyadh.
In April 2020, the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the rebels announced a temporary ceasefire in Yemen to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but the Houthi rebels had already rejected the initiative, calling it a political maneuver. .
Riyadh’s latest proposal comes amid an upsurge in drone and missile attacks carried out by the Houthis against the kingdom, especially against its energy facilities. The Houthis are currently leading a bitter offensive to seize Marib, the last government stronghold in the north of the country, largely in rebel hands.
This offensive comes as the US administration of Joe Biden has decided to end its support for the coalition and remove the Houthis from the list of “Terrorist organizations” so as not to hinder, according to her, the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has failed to crush the rebellion, but the war has plunged this very poor country into the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. According to the UN, more than 16 million Yemenis, about half of the population, will face hunger this year. Nearly 50,000 of them are already in conditions close to famine and 400,000 children under five could die of acute malnutrition, according to the UN.
