Alwaght- With the failure of the Yemen ceasefire talks between Ansarullah Movement and Saudi Arabia and resumption of clashes earlier this month, the UN and the US are struggling to extend the truce and save Saudi Arabia and the UAE from new missile and drone attacks.
In recent days, the UN envoy to Yemen Hans Grunberg called for Ansarullah agreement to a new extension of the ceasefire, but Ansarullah, a leading actor in Yemen, has rejected the call, arguing that they do not trust the Arab kingdom since during the past six months of cessation of fire, the Saudis failed to fulfill their commitments. Mohammad Abdel Salam, the movement's spokesman, recently said that there will be no ceasefire until the Arab aggression countries abandon their supremacist approach towards the Yemeni people and agree to the conditions of this movement which include paying the salaries of the state employees and lifting the sea, land, and air blockade. Other Ansarullah officials have issued warnings to the UN and the Saudis in different ways, telling them that they do not accept the terms of the UN-proposed truce which is written only in favor of the Arab aggression coalition, and fundamental changes must be made to it so that the Yemenis can also benefit from it and that they strongly oppose a unilateral deal. Actually, this time the conditions have completely changed and Ansarullah is not going to agree to a ceasefire fruitless to the Yemenis. In other words, the movement does not accept a free ceasefire and is preparing itself for a new round of operations deep into the coalition countries’ territories.
In recent days, Yemeni armed forces have repeatedly warned foreign companies based in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to leave as soon as possible, and it seems that the Yemenis are preparing for a new missile operation, something sending shivers down Saudi and Emirati officials’ spine.
Despite denial by Ansarullah about possible new missile strikes at least for now, the Saudis, afraid of further war conditions and finding their major oil facilities at stake, are trying to secure an extension for the ceasefire to steer clear of missile attacks. The Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud recently claimed that efforts to extend the ceasefire are still ongoing and that Riyadh and the fugitive government in Aden are willing to extend it. Riyadh's struggle to extend the ceasefire comes at a time when the relations between Saudi Arabia and the US are strained over last week decision for oil output cuts within the framework of OPEC+. The Americans know that with the landing of Ansarullah's missiles in Aramco facilities, a new crisis will spook and perhaps plague the world energy markets and make things worse for the Saudis.
Arabs, the UN and the US are struggling to extend the ceasefire in Yemen as during the six-month cessation of hostilities, everything was going in favor of the Arab coalition and the Yemenis did not benefit from the agreement. According to the UN-brokered truce, Sana'a airport was supposed to be reopened to send patients abroad for treatment, and by lifting the naval blockade, ships carrying fuel and food would dock in the port of Hudaydeh, but the Saudis did not allow the Yemenis to benefit from the achievements of the ceasefire.
Expired drug kills Yemeni children
Contrary to the UN claims that the ceasefire brought about achievements for the Yemenis and conditions were set to improve with delivery of humanitarian aids, situation on the ground proves that things worsened during the truce. Although during the six months of calm no considerable amounts of aids were sent to Yemen, even these insignificant amounts caused suffering to the people rather than alleviating their plights. Due to the seven-year blockade, people are living in the worst conditions and are in desperate need for health services. The truce was to allow medicines to enter the country, but even this small amount of medicine brought death to them.
In a report on Friday evening, the Sana'a-based National Salvation Government (NSG) announced the death of 18 children in Kuwait Hospital in the capital with doses of expired drug. Sources of the health ministry noted that 50 leukemia children were under treatment in this hospital, and the number of victims is probably higher. The ministry asked the international community to start an immediate investigation led by the World Health Organization.
This drug was among the humanitarian aids the UN delivered to Yemen. The ships carrying the aids had to wait for a Saudi permission for a long time as Riyadh imposes a watertight blockade on Yemen. Initial theories suggest that the drug was kept in improper conditions for a long time and then delivered to Sana'a. Actually, Yemeni children went victim to the Saudi atrocities and adventures.
On the other hand, many Yemenis are suffering from incurable diseases and need medical help, but the ongoing siege has only caused the number of these patients to go higher and higher. Due to eight years of regular attacks by the coalition, Yemen's health and treatment network has collapsed and medicine is scarce and thus a catastrophic health situation in dominant. Earlier, health ministry had announced that nearly 300,000 people needed “urgent medical assistance” and must be sent abroad for treatment, but due to the closure of Sana'a airport, only a limited number of these patients were allowed to leave the country in the past six months, and this was one of the biggest violations of the ceasefire terms by the Saudi-led coalition.
Despite the catastrophic humanitarian conditions in Yemen for which Saudi Arabia and the UN are responsible, the UN mainly blames the Yemenis for the collapse of the ceasefire and intends to persuade Ansarullah to agree to a new extension by means of international pressures. But the certainty is that the movement will no longer yield to international pressures and rely on its military power to wrest Yemeni rights from the occupiers, as these days Saudi and Emirati rulers are losing their calm on the fear of rejuvenated strikes.
