UN Envoy in Sanaa to Persuade Houthis on Ending Taiz Siege

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg (3rd R) arrives in Yemen's capital of Sanaa, EPA
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg (3rd R) arrives in Yemen's capital of Sanaa, EPA
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UN Envoy in Sanaa to Persuade Houthis on Ending Taiz Siege

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg (3rd R) arrives in Yemen's capital of Sanaa, EPA
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg (3rd R) arrives in Yemen's capital of Sanaa, EPA

UN Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg arrived on Wednesday in Sanaa to convince Houthi leaders of his proposal to lift the siege on Taiz and open some roads between the governorates.

Earlier, Yemeni government officials and Houthi putschists tried to resolve the Taiz file in two rounds of talks in the Jordanian capital, Amman, yet with no avail.

Fears are growing that Houthi intransigence in this file will lead to torpedoing the existing UN-sponsored truce that was extended to August 2.

Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi on Wednesday threatened during his meeting with coup loyalists from Taiz to resume fighting to control the liberated areas under the control of the Yemeni government.

For his part, Grundberg said he would meet the rebel leadership to discuss proposals for reopening roads into Taiz, Yemen’s third biggest city which has been largely cut off since 2015.

“I hope we will have constructive discussions on our proposal for reopening roads in Taiz and other governorates, as well as economic and humanitarian measures and the way forward,” said Grundberg upon arriving in Sanaa.

“Yemenis have seen the truce’s tangible benefits. We have witnessed a significant positive shift and we have a responsibility to safeguard it and deliver on its potential for peace in Yemen,” he told reporters.

Holding talks on Taiz was one of the terms of the truce, along with resuming commercial flights out of Sana’a and allowing fuel ships into the lifeline port of Hodeida, which is also in Houthi hands.

Grundberg hailed the truce extension, calling it a “positive signal of the parties’ seriousness to uphold and implement the truce.”

Taiz has been under siege since the civil war erupted in Yemen in late 2014. Lifting the blockade would facilitate the movement of citizens and their access to humanitarian aid.

Residents in Taiz have staged repeated protest rallies to demand the acceleration of lifting the siege and clearing landmines on the main roads around the city.

Ending the Taiz siege is the last major term to be fulfilled under the agreement reached by the country's warring parties as part of their truce that came into force in April.



Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Lebanon, including 5 Hezbollah Fighters

Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
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Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Lebanon, including 5 Hezbollah Fighters

Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.

Heavy Israeli airstrikes killed 12 people, including five Hezbollah fighters, in eastern Lebanon on Tuesday, a security source in Lebanon said, in what Israel said was a warning to the Iran-backed group against trying to re-establish itself.

The Israeli military said the airstrikes targeted training camps used by elite Hezbollah fighters and warehouses it used to store weapons in the Bekaa Valley region of eastern Lebanon.

The airstrikes were the deadliest on the area since a US-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel last November. Bachir Khodr, governor of the Bekaa region, said seven of the dead were Syrian nationals.

Israel dealt Hezbollah heavy blows in last year's conflict, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah along with other commanders and destroying much of its arsenal.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday's strikes sent a "clear message" to Hezbollah, accusing it of planning to rebuild the capability to raid Israel through the elite Radwan force, Reuters reported.

Israel "will respond with maximum force to any attempt at rebuilding", he said. He added that strikes were also a message to the Lebanese government, saying it was responsible for upholding the ceasefire agreement.

There was no immediate public response from Hezbollah or from the Lebanese government to the latest Israeli strikes.

The United States has submitted a proposal to the Lebanese government aimed at securing Hezbollah's disarmament within four months in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from positions they still hold in south Lebanon.

Under the terms of the ceasefire brokered by the US and France, Lebanon's armed forces were to confiscate "all unauthorized arms", beginning in the area south of the Litani River - the zone closest to Israel.