Sanaa puts its last arguments before UN, EU mediators as the armistice approaches its end

As the end of the extended humanitarian and military truce approaches, the forces of the US-Saudi-Emirati aggression are still dealing with the agreement recklessly and taking it as an opportunity to win military and political gains. This comes in exchange for repudiating obligations and preserving the suffering of the Yemeni people. On the other hand, the patriotic side is still keen on extending peace, with the aim of fulfilling the people’s humanitarian needs and resolving the humanitarian files that the Yemenis suffer from. It is also calling for more humanitarian benefits for the people, despite the aggressive violations and the accompanying crimes by the aggression and their violations against the armistice at all military levels. These violations mainly are on Hodeidah seaport and Sanaa International airport, which puts the United Nations and the international community under a last real test to prove their responsible presence, especially since they are fully aware of all the outcomes of the 4 months of the armistice.

In the context of the latest developments, Sana’a renewed its warnings against the countries of aggression and the international community through a series of meetings with the international and European missions and briefed them again on the current situation and ways to address them to avoid any re-escalation at the expense of the suffering of the people. It also expressed keenness on peace by submitting legitimate humanitarian demands that affect the people’s needs, and are not linked to any military or political files.

Stopping the violations is a basic requirement to strengthen the “truce”

In the new peace endeavors that Sana’a demands, the Military Committee renewed its request for the United Nations to quickly put an end to violations and crimes, and to work hard and diligently to accelerate the peace process.

This came during a meeting with the Deputy Chairman of the Military Committee, Brigadier General Hussein Hashem, with the military advisor to the United Nations representative to Yemen, General Anthony Hayward, and the Director of the Office of the United Nations Representative in Yemen.

Brigadier General Hashem reviewed with General Hayward the continuous violations of the forces of aggression and their mercenaries against the armistice on various fronts. The meeting with the international team also discussed steps to prepare the joint operations room to limit violations, which affirms keenness to establish peace and closing all opportunities that could lead to military-escalation, and the largest threat is from the coalition of aggression and its tools in various axes.

Brigadier General Hashem said: The intransigence of the aggression countries in preventing the entry of mine-clearing devices and equipment has exacerbated the suffering of citizens and requires a clear position from the United Nations.

For his part, General Hayward called on all parties to make the armistice a single package in accordance with the terms of the armistice and to ensure the alleviation of human suffering, while the repetition of such statements without working on reality makes the international movements mere formalities that cover the continuation of the current situation, which is full of violations, crimes and indicators of escalation.

General Hayward thanked the military committee “for their clarifications on the violations, and we hope that the joint operations room will be a step to limit the violations.”

A renewed argument that mediators realize

In a related context, the Governor of Hodeidah, Mohammed Ayyash Qahim, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Yemen, Hubert Jager, and the Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Program for Corporate Affairs and Advocacy, Otti Clammert, were briefed yesterday on the situation in the port of Hodeidah.

Qhim, Jager, Clammert, and the Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa in the Food Program, Corinne Fleischer, were briefed on the extent of the damage and destruction suffered by the port as a result of its direct targeting by the forces of aggression and the measures and treatments to restart its operations.

During the visit, the Governor of Hodeidah, Mohammed Ayyash Qahim, indicated that the forces of aggression continue to besiege the port and prevent the arrival of humanitarian, relief, medicine and oil derivatives aid.

Governor Qahim called on the German ambassador to contribute to ending the aggression and lifting the siege that deprived the Yemeni people of the most basic necessities of life and decent life, stressing the keenness of the local authority to maintain all facilities for the entry of aid and oil derivatives for citizens.

In the context of renewing the argument and presenting the aspects that the United Nations and its missions and European missions know about, Governor Qahim and the German ambassador talked with the Chairman and CEO of the Yemeni Red Sea Ports Corporation, Captain Mohammed Abu-Bakr Ishaq. He explained how the port of Hodeidah was before the siege and how the corporation’s ports were targeted, an argument that dispels the claims of the aggression countries regarding the militarization of the port, or claims that its status does not allow the reception of ships and containers.

Ishaq indicated that more than 60% was destroyed of Hodeidah port capibilties, noting that more than %70 of the Yemeni people depend on this port.

The director of the Red Sea Ports Corporation explained that the direct targeting of the port of Hodeidah on August 17, 2015, led to the container terminal being out of service and the loss of 60% of the services the port of Hodeidah offers, pointing to the importance of the port of Hodeidah both geographically and demographically, both for donors and for the Yemeni people as an artery life to them.

For his part, the German ambassador and his accompanying delegation praised the efforts made by the leadership of the Yemeni Red Sea Ports Corporation in re-operating the port of Hodeidah despite the scarcity of capabilities, obstacles and the siege imposed on the ports of the corporation.

While the ambassador affirmed that the situation in Yemen occupies a place in German foreign policy, the European moves toward achieving peace in Yemen are still stagnant and do not lead to real results. However, the German ambassador stressed that only a peaceful political solution will address the humanitarian situation.

The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany valued the facilities provided by the local authority in the governorate and the Yemeni Red Sea Ports Corporation during his visit to the governorate and the port, and the repeated reception of UN and European missions, in testimony confirming that the political leadership is working in all ways to create new opportunities for peace.

UN harmony with the measures of aggression and siege.. the last call

In addition, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Humanitarian Affairs and International Cooperation, Ibrahim Al-Hamali, met the German ambassador to Yemen and the Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Program for Corporate Affairs and Advocacy in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a.

During the meeting, Al-Hamali said: “Donors should ensure that the aid reaches its beneficiaries by following up the organizations and evaluating their work to ensure the quality of performance and alleviate the suffering of citizens,” calling for “the resumption of the activity of German agencies working in the field of international cooperation in the capital, Sana’a, to better understand the needs of society.

Al-Hamli implicitly noted the UN harmony with the measures to tighten restrictions on the port of Hodeidah, which is represented in the reduction of aid granted to Yemen in conjunction with every step of the coalition of aggression and siege taken to tighten the noose and exacerbate the suffering of Yemenis.

Al-Hamali pointed out that the reduction of food and cash aid exacerbates the suffering of millions of beneficiaries and affected people in light of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

Regarding the continued killing of civilians through the remnants of the aggression and its explosive tools that they planted in various regions of Yemen as timed bombs that create death and crimes in light of the warplanes stopping bombing after the armistice, Al-Hamli stressed the need to support the Executive Center for Demining by providing mine detectors to contribute to saving innocent lives. He pointed out that the death toll of civilians has reached 370 citizens since the beginning of the declared truce.

In a related context, the head of the Executive Center for Mine Action, Brigadier Ali Safra, said: “A UN memorandum reached us on May 25 confirmed that the coalition prevents the entry of mine detectors,” referring to the intention of the United Nations to appear as a helpless person in the face of the aggression and siege measures. However, the UN is constantly working to bring in oil ships, equipment and its organizations to the country without the need to seek permission from the countries of aggression, which reveals the systematic role of the United Nations in maintaining the suffering of Yemenis and the continuation of crimes against them.

Brigadier-General Safra clarified that 255 civilians have fallen as victims of mines and cluster bombs since the beginning of the truce, including 84 children, stressing that the cluster bombs dropped by the aggression’s warplanes are scattered in civilian facilities, and this has raised the number of victims.

The head of the Executive Center for Mine Action, Brigadier General Safra, reiterated that “the United Nations bears the greatest responsibility for the continued occurrence of casualties; Because of the remnants of the aggression, including mines and cluster bombs.”

In the end, Sanaa has given the peace decision to the United Nations and the international community, and before them, the coalition of aggression, so that all of those parties are in front of the last test, especially since Sanaa has raised its humanitarian demands represented by including the salary file within the terms of the extension of the armistice, has established the argument against all hostile and mediating parties and emphasized that their demands are purely humanitarian. Therefore, after this argument, Sanaa has the full legitimacy to respond to the escalation and practices of stifling the people, with major and qualitative military deterrence operations. Perhaps these operations will impose real seriousness on the international and European mediators, who are accustomed to taking serious actions after every specific painful operation that targets the depth of the Saudi and Emirati regimes.