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UN Envoy Warns Resumption of War Remains Threat in Yemen Unless Parties Reach New Ceasefire Deal 

Hans Grundberg, the UN special representative for Yemen, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (AP)
Hans Grundberg, the UN special representative for Yemen, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (AP)
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UN Envoy Warns Resumption of War Remains Threat in Yemen Unless Parties Reach New Ceasefire Deal 

Hans Grundberg, the UN special representative for Yemen, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (AP)
Hans Grundberg, the UN special representative for Yemen, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (AP)

The United Nations' top official in Yemen warned Monday that the country will remain a powder keg for renewed war unless its rival factions work out a new cease-fire deal.

Hans Grundberg, the UN special representative for Yemen, told The Associated Press the situation in the conflict-stricken country is fragile nearly a year after the legitimate government and the Iranian-backed Houthi militias failed to renew a UN-brokered ceasefire.

The conflict has been restrained since then, with only sporadic clashes, but Grundberg said a resumption of all-out fighting is a threat.

“The risk of a flare-up is always there,” he said. “The situation remains fragile and will remain fragile until we have reached an agreement that offers a ceasefire agreement.”

The end to the ceasefire arrangement was a blow to UN efforts to find a negotiated settlement to the conflict, which has devastated the country and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.

Yemen’s war began when the Houthis seized the capital of Sanaa in 2014, forcing the government to flee to the south and then into exile in Saudi Arabia.

Speaking after meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in Cairo, Grundberg noted Yemen's warring parties have separately been involved in peace efforts in recent months, but he said more effort is needed to establish a firm nationwide ceasefire and restart political talks on ending the conflict.

The envoy welcomed international and regional efforts to end the conflict. He said such efforts would help the UN to craft a proposal for a nationwide ceasefire and the start of political talks between Yemeni factions to end the war.

“There is a unity among the international actors on the need for the Yemeni conflict to be resolved, and also about the fact that the United Nations is the main the mediator,” Grundberg said.

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MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
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MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

Medical aid agency MSF said on Friday it has been forced to suspend its activities at one of the few remaining hospitals in southern Khartoum due to repeated attacks, cutting off yet another lifeline for those who remain in the Sudanese capital.
War has been raging in Sudan since April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.
The hospital, which lies in territory controlled by the RSF, helped treat the victims of frequent airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces, as well as hundreds of malnourished women and children in an area where two neighborhoods have been judged at risk of famine, reported Reuters.
"In the 20 months MSF teams have worked alongside hospital staff and volunteers, Bashair Hospital has experienced repeated incidents of armed fighters entering the hospital with weapons and threatening medical staff, often demanding fighters be treated before other patients," MSF said in a statement.
"Despite extensive engagements with all stakeholders, these attacks have continued in recent months. MSF has now taken the very difficult decision to suspend all medical activities in the hospital."
The fighting in Sudan has cut off up to 80% of hospitals in conflict areas, where millions who cannot afford to escape the violence remain. Civilians face frequent air and artillery fire and hunger as supplies are blocked by both warring parties and prices skyrocket.
Medical facilities, including MSF-supported ones that have suspended operations, have frequently come under attack by RSF soldiers demanding treatment or looting supplies. Bashair Hospital has served more than 25,000 people, MSF said, including 9,000 hurt by blasts, gunshot wounds, and other violence.
"Sometimes dozens of people arrived at the hospital at the same time after shelling or airstrikes on residential areas and markets," MSF said in the statement, citing an incident on Sunday where an airstrike one kilometer away drove 50 people to the emergency room, 12 of them already dead.