WRAP-UP: UN announces extension of truce in Yemen for 2 more months

A two-month UN-brokered truce between the Iran-backed Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition has been extended for additional two months, announced UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg on Thursday.

“I would like to announce that the parties to the conflict have agreed to the United Nations’ proposal to renew the current truce in Yemen for two additional months. The extension of the truce comes into effect when the current truce period expires, today 2 June 2022 at 19:00 Yemen time. The truce is extended under the same terms as the original agreement, which first came into effect on 2 April 2022,” Grundberg said in a statement.

“I commend the parties for taking these steps, and for agreeing to extend the truce. The truce represents a significant shift in the trajectory of the war and has been achieved through responsible and courageous decision making by the parties. In order for the truce to fully deliver on its potential, additional steps will need to be taken, particularly on the matters of road openings and commercial flight operations. Such steps will require leadership and a vision for all of Yemen,” he added.

The decision came after international powers, led by the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations, exerted tremendous efforts to extend it.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday that the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, was “involved in intense work on ensuring the renewal of the truce.” He stressed that they had received “preliminary, positive indications” from the warring parties regarding the extension of the cessation of hostilities nationwide.

The truce was the first nationwide ceasefire in the past six years of Yemen's civil war. Fighting broke out in 2014 when Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, seized the capital, Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government to flee. A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in early 2015 to try to restore the government to power.

Yemen Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed warned against the continuation of the siege imposed by the Houthis on the city of Taiz, saying that it would lead to a catastrophic situation.

Dujarric said humanitarian needs in Yemen remain high despite improvements since the truce, with around 19 million people expected to face hunger this year, including more than 160,000 who will face famine-like conditions.

The Yemen prime minister has expressed his support for the extension of the truce, which came in a meeting with US officials on Wednesday. The US delegation was led by Yemen Ambassador Steven Fagin and US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking, who expressed “the United States' appreciation for the Yemeni government's support for the truce extension.”

On Tuesday, the United States warned that the truce talks were getting in “trouble” and urged their extension to help support millions of people at risk.

Saeed held a similar meeting with the European Union delegation in Yemen, which expressed their “full support” to Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi, praised his government's “commitment to peace” and called for an end to the siege of Taiz.

The meetings come on the same day that a Yemeni plane left the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, for Cairo, the first commercial flight between the two cities since 2016.

The United Nations and the United States welcomed the flight, which came in the wake of the resumption of flights last month from Sanaa to the Jordanian capital, Amman.

The reopening of Sanaa airport to commercial flights was part of the two-month truce agreement.

However, the United Nations announced Saturday that the warring parties had not reached an agreement on another clause of the agreement during three days of talks in Amman.

The war has killed more than 150,000 people and displaced millions, and created the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.