Daily Times

Yemen’s warring parties are set to lay down their weapons for the first nationwide truce since 2016 on Saturday, with all eyes on whether the UN-brokered ceasefire will hold.

The Iran-backed Huthi rebels and Saudi-led coalition have both agreed to observe the two-month truce, which is to take effect at 1600 GMT on the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. Yemen’s intractable war has killed hundreds of thousands directly or indirectly and displaced millions, triggering the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.

Previous ceasefires have been ineffective. A national truce ahead of peace talks in April 2016 was violated almost immediately, as were other ceasefires that year. A 2018 agreement to cease hostilities around rebel-held Hodeida port, a lifeline for the Arab world’s poorest country, was also largely ignored.

Both the Huthis and Saudi Arabia have welcomed the latest initiative, which follows a surge in attacks but also increasing diplomacy including ongoing talks — snubbed by the rebels — in Riyadh.

“This time I am optimistic. This truce is unlike all the previous ones,” Asmaa Zayed, a college student who also works as a cashier in Hodeida, told AFP.

“The fact it comes with Ramadan gives us a lot of hope. This war started when I was 15 years old and turned all my dreams into nightmares.” Under the agreement, all ground, air and sea military operations in Yemen and across its borders would stop, UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said in his announcement. Fuel ships would be allowed into Hodeida port and commercial flights could resume to certain regional destinations from the airport in the Huthi-held capital Sanaa — both key demands of the insurgents before they consider peace talks.