Sanaa gives the United Nations and the enemy another chance: extending the truce for humanitarian reasons

In light of the continued violations of the coalition of aggression and its mercenaries, Sana’a reiterated the priority of the humanitarian file and gave another opportunity to its rivals, by agreeing to extend the truce for an additional two months, to keep the door open for opportunities that may help to alleviate the suffering of citizens, which could pave the way towards a comprehensive humanitarian agreement. However, this requires the enemy’s commitment to the agreement and compensation for the late entitlements.

“For humanitarian reasons”

The approval of the extension came “after a long discussion with the United Nations and other parties, and sending a letter to the head of the Humanitarian Council,” according to the head of the national negotiating delegation, Ansar Allah spokesman, Mohammed Abdulsalam, who explained that the approval came “for humanitarian reasons, on the condition of implementing what has faltered over the past two months.”

“It depends on the extent to which the other party adheres to its commitments, in order to conduct a comprehensive solution of the humanitarian situation,” he added.

Sanaa had confirmed that the extension of the ceasefire agreement depends on “improving humanitarian and economic conditions,” as well as on compensating the late entitlements of the agreement announced last April, especially the flights that were supposed to take place between Sanaa, Jordan and Egypt, and the fuel ships that were prevented from reaching the port of Hodeidah.

According to the letter of the extension request sent by the UN envoy to the President of the Supreme Political Council, Mahdi Al-Mashat, the United Nations tried to approach these aforementioned requirements (not yet practical), as the letter included “emphasis on finding urgent humanitarian treatments and fixing and addressing the delay that occurred in implementing the provisions of the armistice during the past two months,” according to the official Saba news agency.

The letter also included: “The continuation of the same clauses for the next two months, with the importance of investing the new extension period to reach a clear and comprehensive agreement that deals with the humanitarian file, foremost of which is basic services and the payment of salaries to all employees of the Republic.” These are matters that the Supreme Political Council had previously talked about as the main requirements to ensure the survival and continuity of the truce.

Saba Agency also clarified that President Al-Mashat “received a number of messages and contacts from the leadership of many friendly and brotherly countries that requested that the United Nations and the countries of aggression be given another opportunity to compensate for the provisions of the armistice that were not adhered to during the past two months, especially what is related to the humanitarian file and other Related files”, which means that the test facing the enemy and the United Nations at this stage is greater. This is because the extension was not based on actual humanitarian “gains” achieved in the previous stage, but rather on Sanaa’s response to mediation and its desire to “reduce the suffering of citizens and allow more time to achieve a real breakthrough in opening roads, the sustainability of flights, the smooth arrival of ships, and the actual commitment to the rest of the conditions.

Despite the contents of the message the United Nations has of assurances and promises, the results of the past two months are still imposing themselves on the scene as clear indications of the unwillingness of the coalition of aggression and the United Nations to treat the humanitarian file as it supposed to, but rather using it to gain time and prevarication, which makes the UN statements about seeking for a “comprehensive agreement” without any value, until it is proven on ground.

In this context, Sana’a’s acceptance of the extension of the armistice does not mean a lack of vigilance, or accepting the intransigence of the aggression. President al-Mashat and the head of the national delegation stressed that matters will remain dependent on the behavior of the aggressive coalition, which will be under monitoring and control.

The coalition of aggression concluded the first phase of the truce with grave breaches, which included the killing of two citizens by conducting raids, using combat aircraft, on civilians’ homes in Qataba district, Al-Dhalea governorate. Another bulky violation is the launching of an airstrike on Matma district in Al-Jawf governorate.

The Saudi and American “welcome” statements about the extension openly tried to perpetuate a false image about the truce, in which the armistice appears as an agreement between Sanaa and the mercenaries, while the Saudi regime and the United States appear as “peace” mediators and not as parties participating in the conflict. Thus, this shows that the coalition of aggression entered this phase of the truce having the same suspicious goals.

Analysts believe that the US president’s praise of the alleged Saudi role in the “success” of this truce (at a time when American media reported about Biden’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia) only expresses more US involvement in the aggression on Yemen, especially that the kingdom’s predicament in Yemen, and its demands for more military and political support, were one of the main reasons for the recent crisis in relations between Washington and Riyadh, in addition to the fact that actual “peace” is not in the US interests.

Additional time to test the seriousness of the enemy and the United Nations

In the end, the reality remains the criterion and the real test for the success or failure of the truce, and neither American and Saudi propaganda nor even pressure will be able to change the practical results of the agreement in the end.

Moreover, the head of the National Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs, Abdul Qader Al-Murtada, explained that “the extension of the truce should be an opportunity for the Office of the United Nations Envoy to move forward with the implementation of the prisoner exchange agreement,” adding: “We hope that this truce doesn’t end as the first ended without significant progress in this file.”

For his part, the Acting Chairman of the Supreme Economic Committee, Hashem Ismail, said during his meeting with the UN envoy in Muscat that the initiative of the Supreme Political Council to open a special account for salaries at the Central Bank branch in Hodeidah is still in place and has been since 2020.

“Despite the scarcity of revenues from oil derivatives ships, their supply to the account of salaries is still ongoing, including the revenues of ships entered under the armistice,” he stressed, noting that these revenues are used to disburse half a salary from time to time.

Ismail reiterated “Sanaa is ready to coordinate any mechanisms that guarantee an end to the suffering of employees and retirees in all governorates, and the payment of their salaries on a regular basis, if the United Nations bears or obliges the other party to cover the gap, in accordance with the 2018 Sweden Agreement,” recalling that the monthly revenues of oil looted by the enemy, approximately $260 million per month, equivalent to 145 billion riyals, which is equivalent to double the salaries of state employees.

In conclusion, there are still important practical tests for the coalition of aggression and the United Nations to take advantage of during the extension opportunity granted by Sana’a, and if this opportunity ends without real progress in any of these humanitarian files, the horizon for peace will become narrower than it was, and maybe next time “calls” or mediations may not work, and certainly, no American or Saudi statements will be able to push Sanaa to accept the continuation of the situation.