Concurring with the start of the new UN special envoy’s work in Yemen, international resentment towards Houthis targeting Saudi infrastructure grew fiercer amid warnings against the dangers of protracting the conflict and the militias refusing to cooperate for a political solution in the war-torn country.
The US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking, despite visiting the region seven times since his assignment in February, has failed in achieving any significant breakthrough. He called for a ceasefire and resuming negotiations, but neither has happened so far.
Hoping to lure US public opinion, especially Congress legislators, the Biden administration has adopted a new statement method.
In its latest condemnation of recent Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia, it reminded that more than 70,000 US citizens in the Kingdom are in imminent danger from assaults waged by the Iran-backed militia.
This comes when many Yemeni observers fear that the Biden administration’s preoccupation with the crisis in Afghanistan will allow for violence to escalate in Yemen, where the lives of around 130,000 had been claimed.
“Since the beginning of the year, Saudi Arabia has endured more than 240 attacks from the Houthis, who have endangered the Saudi people alongside more than 70,000 US citizens residing in Saudi Arabia,” said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in a statement.
“The Houthis have also intensified their attacks inside of Yemen in recent weeks, particularly their offensive on Marib,” he added.
“This costly, stalemated offensive is exacerbating Yemen’s humanitarian crisis. The Houthi attacks are perpetuating the conflict, prolonging the suffering of the Yemeni people, and jeopardizing peace efforts at a critical moment,” said Blinken, calling on Houthis to uphold a ceasefire and engage in negotiations under UN auspices.
Despite international and ongoing efforts to end the Yemeni crisis, the UN has acknowledged that there are no signs of the Yemeni conflict ending looming on the horizon.
“No progress has been made by parties in Yemen to reach a political agreement to settle the civil war, which is now in its seventh year,” a senior UN official for the Middle East region told the Security Council on Monday.
Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, affirmed that the 2015 peace plan, which called for a nationwide ceasefire, the reopening of Sanaa airport, the easing of restrictions on fuel and goods flowing through Hodeidah port, and the resumption of face-to-face political negotiations, had not been implemented yet.
Khiari said that the Houthis continue to make the opening of Hodeidah ports and Sanaa airport, as well as on the ending of what they call the “aggression and occupation”, conditions of their renewed participation in the political process.
Two human rights groups Wednesday accused Houthis of using starvation as a tactic of war. They urged the UN Security Council to refer the opposing participants to the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged crimes.
The two groups, in their reports, which The Associated Press published a news article about, documented the Houthis’ restrictions on humanitarian activities, which deprived civilians in areas under their control of “indispensable aid, including food.”
They also documented the Houthis’ widespread and indiscriminate use of land mines, which have killed and maimed shepherds and their livestock and prevented farmers from accessing agricultural land.
Houthis are accused of atrocities in the conflict, which has killed more than 130,000 people and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
