With a five-day humanitarian truce due to take effect in Yemen tonight after more than six weeks of fighting, ordinary people will get the chance to stock up on food, fuel and medicine. Neither the Houthis nor rogue elements of the army ought to be under any illusions about the Saudi-led coalition's resolve to ensure that the humanitarian ceasefire is not misused. One can only hope that this Saudi-proposed pause will lead to a permanent peace deal for a country blighted by years of conflict.
Unfortunately, the many previous broken promises of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and their allied renegade Yemen army units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, give little reason for optimism. Consider what they did in September after taking over Sanaa by force. They agreed what was known as the Peace and National Partnership Agreement, which granted the Houthis some political power in exchange for withdrawing their militias from the capital. Two days later, the Houthi leadership reneged on the plan and their militias have remained in control of Sanaa since. The Houthis later demanded the resignation of the cabinet, to be replaced with one that would have greater Houthi participation. This was agreed to but the Houthis then declared that a “salvation council” would run the country instead.
Despite this intransigence, the proposed ceasefire at 11pm today is the right path to take. It underscores the coalition’s reasons for being engaged in this conflict. It was on behalf of ordinary Yemenis, who like people everywhere, seek the stability and security to get on with their lives and provide for their families. The air campaign has always had two main objectives – to support the internationally recognised government of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi and to stop the country becoming, as Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has said, “a theatre for terrorism, discord and internal fighting”.
That emphasis on a stable future for all Yemenis was recently emphasised by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Anwar Gargash, in a television interview. He said that a political solution in Yemen was possible and the Houthis could be part of the political process based on the number of Yemenis they represented rather than their weapons. The Houthis would be wise to call time on a record of perfidy and fighting.