Yemen’s Houthi rebels declared a three-day ceasefire with the Saudi-led coalition, on Saturday and left hanging the hopes and anticipation of a permanent ceasefire. The brutal conflict is completing seven years as it has left millions of people on the verge of famine.
Just a day after a stream of Houthi missile and drone attacks on various Saudi targets, which includes Aramco’s petroleum storage site, leading to a huge fire at the site close to the Formula One race track in Jeddah, the Yemini political leader of the Houthi movement, Mahdi-al-Mashat announced to put the rebel operations on hold.
Thousands of people could be seen marching in Sanaa, the rebel-held capital, to mark the anniversary. Through television Mahdi-al-Mashat announced the suspension of missile and drone strikes and all military actions for a period of three days.
“We are ready to turn this declaration into a final and permanent commitment in the event that Saudi Arabia commits to ending the siege and stopping its raids on Yemen once and for all,” Mashat said.
There was no immediate response from Saudi Arabia, which had reciprocated to the attacks on Friday by initiating air strikes on Sanaa and Hodeida and destroying four explosives-laden boats.
As the conflict rages through the years and on multiple fronts, thousands of people have been killed and millions have been displaced in what the United Nation calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Mashat further said that the Houthis are willing to release all prisoners, including President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, and other nationalities in exchange for the full release of all their prisoners.
“The Saudi regime must prove its seriousness by responding to a ceasefire, lifting the siege and expelling foreign forces from our country. And then peace will come and then it will be time to talk about political solutions in a calm atmosphere away from any military or humanitarian pressure,” Mashat said.
The Iran-backed rebels’ recent move came exactly seven years after the Saudi-led coalition’s interference to support Yemen’s government, after the Houthis had seized Sanaa in 2014.
The Saudi-led coalition, when first intervened in Yemen on 26th of March 2015, was made up of nine countries. Today, it’s mostly just Saudi Arabia and to some extent, the United Arab Emirates.
