BICOM

The Saudi-led coalition has ordered a temporary halt to its offensive against Houthi rebels in the Yemeni port of Hodeidah.

The port city is the entry point for 80 per cent of  Yemen’s food, aid and commercial goods.

There have been repeated warnings of dire humanitarian consequences of continued fighting in Hodeiedah and pressure is growing for a negotiated end to the conflict. Half of Yemen’s 28 million people are already on the brink of starvation and the country is suffering from the worst cholera crisis in modern history. Warning of the looming humanitarian crisis, United Nations special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths said “if famine takes hold in Yemen then the enormity of the humanitarian task to try and keep people alive is mind-boggling.”

Echoing these concerns, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told a House of Lords select committee on Thursday: “We want to use every bit of influence we have because we are facing the most appalling catastrophe. There are 14,000 people getting cholera every week, 8.5 million people on the brink of starvation. This is the most appalling humanitarian crisis and we do not believe there is a military solution that is possible, we think there has to be a political process.”

The UN envoy called for a halt in the Saudi coalition’s offensive as an important condition for a resumption of dialogue. Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Thursday, “We support a peaceful solution in Yemen and we support the efforts of the UN special envoy to Yemen.” Griffiths will brief the UN Security Council today and hopes to restart peace talks within a month. He said he is “confident that the parties are ready to work on a political solution and [is] encouraged by the constructive engagement received from all sides.”

Previous UN talks to end the war collapsed when the Iranian backed Houthis refused to attend. New talks are planned for the end of the month in Sweden, with all sides expected to attend after the Saudi-coalition granted a Houthi demand for the evacuation of wounded fighters. Emphasising the need for talks, the UN envoy told both sides: “Please can everyone hold their breath and get this conflict into a discussion rather than into violence.”