(United Nations) The United Nations special envoy for Yemen Hans Grungberg called on Wednesday for action “immediately” to end the “dangerous cycle of escalation” in Yemen, in a context of “shifting sands” linked in particular to attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.
The country has been experiencing a lull since a truce negotiated in April 2022 by the United Nations – officially expired. But in the context of the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis have carried out dozens of attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden against ships they consider linked to Israel, saying act in solidarity with the Palestinians.
In response, the United States and the United Kingdom have carried out several strikes in Yemen targeting the Houthis, who have controlled a large part of the territory of this country itself torn by war for almost a decade.
In these circumstances, and despite progress in December towards a new ceasefire between the Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government, “the path to peace faces more obstacles”, worried Hans Grunberg during a meeting of the Security Council.
We must “create a way out of this dangerous cycle of escalation”.
To this end, “first, we need regional de-escalation,” he pleaded, relaying the repeated call from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to Gaza, also important for “protecting the mediation space in Yemen”.
“Secondly, the Yemeni parties must stop public provocations and refrain from any military opportunism inside Yemen at this delicate moment,” he added, estimating that an escalation would be “a choice” which would lead to “a price” for the population already on its knees.
“During my last exchanges, I received assurances that all parties prefer the path towards peace,” noted Hans Grundberg, noting however worrying signs on several front lines and the increase in “public threats to resume the fights “.
The poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen has since 2014 been in the grip of a civil war opposing the government, supported since 2015 by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, to the Houthi rebels close to Iran who control parts of entire country, including the capital Sanaa.
The war has left hundreds of thousands of dead, direct and indirect victims of the conflict, and caused one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, according to the UN, with a “rate of malnutrition among the highest ever recorded” and ” 17.6 million people who will face acute food insecurity in 2024.
“Yemen is not a footnote in regional history. […] The regional escalation must not undermine the urgent needs for a national ceasefire in Yemen, the payment of salaries in the public sector, the resumption of oil exports, the reopening of roads, ports and airports, the reconstruction and other elements that are part of the negotiations,” insisted the UN special envoy.