Jemen

The United Nations said Thursday that Yemen’s warring parties have agreed to renew a nationwide truce for another two months. The announcement is a glimmer of hope for the country, plagued by eight years of civil war, though significant obstacles remain to lasting peace.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said Wednesday they are considering renewing a United Nations-brokered truce with the government which expires in two weeks.

The current truce in Yemen could lead to negotiations on a long-term ceasefire. But this would require greater concessions by the Houthis and sustained diplomatic engagement from regional powers such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Iran.

The United Nations has received $33 million in new pledges on Wednesday towards a $144 million operation to avoid an oil spill from a tanker stranded off the coast of Yemen which threatens a major environmental disaster. 

A two-month truce and reconfiguration of executive powers in Yemen’s internationally recognised government represent an opportunity, if not for peace, then at least for negotiations aimed at achieving it. But getting to talks will require overcoming a barrier many see as insurmountable: dialogue with the Huthi rebels.

Saudi officials say the move is aimed at solidifying a two-month truce that went into effect in early April.

At the start of a two-month nationwide truce, the Houthis signed an Action Plan with the UN to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict; the killing and maiming of children; and attacks on schools and hospitals.

US Fifth Fleet Commander Vice Admiral says the task force will operate in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab and Gulf of Aden and will also target human trafficking and the smuggling of drugs and other illicit goods.

Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi has given up his powers and tasked a presidential council to lead the country, including conducting negotiations to bring an end to the conflict with Houthi rebels.

A two-month truce in Yemen which goes into effect on Saturday must be a first step in ending the county’s devastating war, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on the eve of the ceasefire.