Yemen De-Escalation Agreement Goes into Effect

The Houthi-held central bank in Sanaa. (Reuters)
The Houthi-held central bank in Sanaa. (Reuters)
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Yemen De-Escalation Agreement Goes into Effect

The Houthi-held central bank in Sanaa. (Reuters)
The Houthi-held central bank in Sanaa. (Reuters)

The de-escalation agreement between the legitimate Yemeni government and Iran-backed Houthi militias went into effect with the central bank in the interim capital Aden restoring SWIFT services to six banks in Houthi-held Sanaa.

Flights were also resumed between Sanaa and Amman. Three will be operated per day.

United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg announced the agreement on Tuesday, hoping the deal would pave the way for comprehensive talks on the economy and humanitarian situation.

Yemenia Airways said flights from Sanaa to Amman began operation on Thursday. Before the escalation, it was only operating one flight to the Jordanian capital.

Once logistic preparations are complete, flights will be operated to Egypt and India.

Yemenia spokesman Hatem al-Shaabi confirmed the launch of the Amman flights in line with the de-escalation agreement.

He stressed that the airline is keen on providing its services to all Yemenis.

It is awaiting the operating permits to launch flights from Sanaa to each of Cairo and Mumbai, he went on to say.

Tickets are available at all agencies and to all people throughout Yemen, he stated.

The United Arab Emirates welcomed on Thursday the de-escalation agreement, saying it was a positive step towards reaching a political solution in Yemen that meets the aspirations of its people.

The UAE Foreign Ministry hailed the UN and Grundberg on their efforts to reach a lasting comprehensive solution to the crisis in Yemen that would in turn bolster regional peace and stability.

In the de-escalation agreement, the parties agreed to “cancel all the recent decisions and procedures against banks by both sides and refrain in the future from any similar decisions or procedures,” said a UN statement on Tuesday.

They agreed on “resuming Yemenia Airways’ flights between Sanaa and Jordan and increasing the number of flights to three daily flights, and operating flights to Cairo and India daily or as needed.”

Meetings will be convened to address the administrative, technical, and financial challenges faced by the company, added the statement.

The parties also agreed on “initiating the convening of meetings to discuss all economic and humanitarian issues based on the roadmap.”

The parties requested the support of the UN in implementing their commitments.



WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
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WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)

The World Health Organization is sending more than one million polio vaccines to Gaza to be administered over the coming weeks to prevent children being infected after the virus was detected in sewage samples, its chief said on Friday.

"While no cases of polio have been recorded yet, without immediate action, it is just a matter of time before it reaches the thousands of children who have been left unprotected," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an opinion piece in Britain's The Guardian newspaper.

He wrote that children under five were most at risk from the viral disease, and especially infants under two since normal vaccination campaigns have been disrupted by more than nine months of conflict.

Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis. Cases of polio have declined by 99% worldwide since 1988 thanks to mass vaccination campaigns and efforts continue to eradicate it completely.

Israel's military said on Sunday it would start offering the polio vaccine to soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip after remnants of the virus were found in test samples in the enclave.

Besides polio, the UN reported last week a widespread increase in cases of Hepatitis A, dysentery and gastroenteritis as sanitary conditions deteriorate in Gaza, with sewage spilling into the streets near some camps for displaced people.