Grundberg Calls for Overcoming Outstanding Challenges, Extending Yemen Truce

UN Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg (United Nations)
UN Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg (United Nations)
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Grundberg Calls for Overcoming Outstanding Challenges, Extending Yemen Truce

UN Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg (United Nations)
UN Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg (United Nations)

The UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said on Tuesday that Yemenis can’t afford to go back to the pre-truce state of perpetual military escalation and political stalemate.

With just two weeks left in a two-month cease-fire in Yemen, the envoy said he hopes the truce will be extended.

"I continue to engage the parties to overcome outstanding challenges and to ensure the extension of the truce which is set to expire in two weeks," Grundberg said.

After a closed briefing to the UN Security Council, the envoy said the truce, which came into effect in the country on April 2 left a considerable positive impact on the daily lives of many Yemenis.

He applauded the parties to the truce for taking the “courageous” steps of agreeing to it, stressing that the truce is holding in military terms and that for the past six weeks civilian casualties have dropped considerably and fighting has sharply reduced.

“Front lines across Yemen have quietened down significantly, and there are reports of increasing humanitarian access, including in some frontline locations that had previously been extremely difficult to access,” the envoy stressed during the virtual news conference.

However, he added, “We continue to see concerning reports of continued fighting involving incidents of civilian casualties despite overall reduction.”

Grundberg also mentioned that the first commercial flight in almost six years took off from Sanaa airport for Jordan’s capital, Amman, on Monday and another flight brought Yemenis back.

“We are working with all involved to ensure the regularization of flights to and from Sanaa airport for the duration of the truce and to find durable mechanisms to keep it open,” he reassured.

A second flight to Amman is scheduled for Wednesday.

Also, the UN envoy said the Yemeni government allowed 11 fuel ships to enter the country’s Hodeidah port.

“This means more fuel deliveries than during the six months before the truce,” he noted.

Grundberg then said that priority now is to implement the truce agreement’s commitment to open roads in Taiz and other areas of Yemen.

He revealed that the Yemeni government has appointed its delegation to a UN meeting on opening roads, adding that as soon as the Houthis appoint their delegation, the UN will organize the discussion in Amman.

The UN envoy said he is not only working to extend the truce but to initiate talks on many issues so that the government, Houthis and other Yemenis can tackle critical issues and reach a political settlement to the war.



Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

At least eight Palestinians, most of them children, were killed and more than a dozen were wounded in central Gaza when they went to collect water on Sunday, local officials said.

The Israeli military said the missile had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant in the area but that a malfunction had caused it to fall "dozens of meters from the target".

"The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians," it said in a statement, adding that the incident was under review.

The strike hit a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing six children and injuring 17 others, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al-Awda Hospital.

Water shortages in Gaza have worsened sharply in recent weeks, with fuel shortages causing desalination and sanitation facilities to close, making people dependent on collection centers where they can fill up their plastic containers.

Hours later, 12 people were killed by an Israeli strike on a market in Gaza City, including a prominent hospital consultant, Ahmad Qandil, Palestinian media reported. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack.

Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday that more than 58,000 people had been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, with 139 people added to the death toll over the past 24 hours.

Negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire appeared to be deadlocked, with the two sides divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources said at the weekend.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene ministers late on Sunday to discuss the latest developments in the talks, an Israeli official said.

The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire are being held in Doha, but optimism that surfaced last week of a looming deal has largely faded, with both sides accusing each other of intransigence.

Netanyahu in a video he posted on Telegram on Sunday said Israel would not back down from its core demands - releasing all the hostages still in Gaza, destroying Hamas and ensuring Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.