New York (South24)

The UN Envoy to Yemen will resume consultations with Yemeni parties on Thursday to "determine economic, political and security priorities," Hans Grundberg's office said today.

Yesterday, the UN Envoy said that the truce announced by the United Nations in Yemen is still "holding in military terms", pointing to the positive impact he has seen on the daily lives of many Yemenis.

“Over the past six weeks, civilian casualties have dropped considerably. Fighting has sharply reduced with no aerial attacks emanating from Yemen across its borders and no confirmed airstrikes inside Yemen,” Grundberg said."

Grundberg claimed that “frontlines 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. However, we continue to see concerning reports of continued fighting involving incidents of civilian casualties despite overall reduction, including in Taiz and Dhale".

Grundberg referred to the first commercial flight in almost six years took off from Sanaa International Airport and arrived in Jordan just yesterday. Another flight also brought Yemenis back to Sanaa from Amman.

According to Grundberg, "this has brought relief to so many Yemenis who have waited too long to travel, many of them for pressing medical reasons, and to pursue business and educational opportunities, or to reunite with loved ones after years of separation. We are working with all involved to ensure the regularization of flights to and from Sana’a airport for the duration of the Truce and to find durable mechanisms to keep it open. A second flight is now scheduled for today."

So far, Grundberg said, the Government of Yemen has cleared 11 fuel ships to enter through Hudaydah port so far. This amounts to more fuel than during the six months prior to the truce. The fuel crisis that threatened civilians’ access to basic goods and services in Sana’a and surrounding governorates largely subsided."

Regarding the opening of roads in Taiz, Grundberg said, "We intend to organize the meeting in Amman as soon as Ansar Allah appoints their representatives."

Grundberg added that he is continuing to "engage the parties to overcome outstanding challenges and to ensure the extension of the truce, which is set to expire in two weeks."

Historic moment

Grundberg said that the truce is a "historic moment in and of itself, it consists of a set of temporary and exceptional measures that need to be underpinned by political process in order to be sustained. Some of the challenges in implementing the truce derive from contentious issues that have been obvious and expected. These need to be addressed in a more comprehensive context beyond the current temporary nature of the truce".

That is why Grundberg says, “I am continuing my work on initiating an inclusive multitrack process which will serve as the platform where the parties and other Yemenis can tackle critical issues for more sustainable arrangements and to reach a political settlement. The continued support of the region and the international community including the Security Council will be crucial to make this happen.” 

The United Nations announced a truce, the first in Yemen, on 1 April. The Yemeni parties in South and North welcomed this step.

Although attacks from outside the Yemeni borders and to outside Yemen have stopped over the past period, the conflict parties in Yemen are reporting repeated incidence of violations on the West Coast, Al-Dhalea, Taiz, Marib and Hajjah fronts.

Observers doubt the Houthis' willingness to reach a peace agreement, and fear that this truce will be an opportunity to catch their breath to renew the conflict.