Jemen

The Trump administration is weighing whether to designate the Iran-aligned rebel group as a foreign terrorist organization.

The international community has mediated in the Yemen war since its outbreak. Although the efforts have yielded some results, none have resulted in a lasting de-escalation of violence or real progress toward political solutions. A new international approach could change that. 

Parties to the conflict in Yemen must do more to protect civilians, a senior UN humanitarian official there has said, as the number of civilian deaths has witnessed a sharp rise over the last few weeks in the war-ravaged country. 

[…] More than 600 Houthi rebels and 400 pro-government prisoners are expected to be released over the next two days. The mass prisoner exchange was agreed during UN-supervised talks in Switzerland last month.

An “airlift of hope” agreed by Yemen’s warring parties to return more than 1,000 detainees to their families has been welcomed by UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths, who has urged both sides to agree to further peace-building measures.

The United Nations in Yemen on Thursday raised alarm over an escalation in fighting between Houthi rebels and government forces in Hodeidah, a vital entry point for aid and food imports.

At the end of a week-long meeting in Switzerland, the parties to the conflict in Yemen reached what the UN envoy there called “a very important milestone”, in agreeing to release a first group of detainees.

UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen Lise Grande says only $1bn of the $3.2bn needed funding has been received.

[…] Martin Griffiths, the UN’s Special Envoy for Yemen, updating the Council on political developments, said that increased fighting – particularly around the northern city of Ma’rib – alongside greater humanitarian needs and the COVID-19 pandemic, mean that Yemen is slipping away from the road to peace.

The war in Yemen continues to ravage the country and its people, senior UN-appointed rights investigators said on Wednesday, in a call for an international probe into suspected war crimes, and sanctions against the perpetrators.