Truce offers glimmer of hope to Yemenis battered by seven-year war

Truce offers glimmer of hope to Yemenis battered by seven-year war

by Joseph Anthony
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A vendor displays dates at his shop as Yemenis prepare for the fasting month of Ramadan amid war in Ukraine and soaring food prices, in Sanaa, Yemen

Yemenis welcomed a nationwide U.N.-brokered ceasefire due to come into effect on Saturday evening as a glimmer of hope in a country ravaged by a seven-year conflict that has forced millions into hunger, poverty and homelessness.

But after numerous failed attempts at peace and more than a year of escalating violence, Yemenis have greeted the news cautiously.
โ€œThe truce is good but I do not have faith in its success, because each side will have a different interpretation of how to implement it and it will collapse,โ€ said 38-year-old electrician Murad Abdullah in Aden, the interim capital of Yemenโ€™s government.
The two-month truce, which coincides with the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, is the first time since 2016 that warring sides have agreed a nationwide cessation of hostilities.
Government employee Ibtihal al-Arashi saw the deal as temporary, pointing to the failure of past Ramadan peace attempts. โ€œWe want to end this absurd war. We want real peace under a civil state that protects rights and freedoms,โ€ she said.
The ceasefire was due to come into effect at 7 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) and can be renewed.
The deal includes a halt to offensive military operations, including cross-border attacks, and also allows fuel imports into areas controlled by the Iran-aligned Houthi group and some commercial flights to operate from the Houthi-held capital Sanaa.
A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, which intervened in March 2015 in support of the Yemeni government against the Houthis, controls Yemenโ€™s seas and air space.
Customers in a busy Sanaa market welcomed the possibility that the truce might herald real progress after years of hardship.
โ€œThis truce is indeed good, an excellent thing, but letโ€™s see how it is actually implemented โ€ฆ Should the strikes on Sanaa stop, the airport open, Hodeidah port open, then we will feel there is a truce, that it has something tangible,โ€ said Najeeb al-Bashiri, a government employee.
U.N. special envoy Hans Grundberg has said he will press for a permanent ceasefire.
The U.N and U.S. Yemen envoys had been trying since last year to engineer a permanent truce needed to revive stalled political negotiations. The Houthis wanted the coalition blockade lifted first, while the alliance sought a simultaneous deal.
โ€œWe welcome this essential development for millions of Yemenis who need a respite after years of relentless fighting,โ€ said the Norwegian Refugee Council, a humanitarian agency operating in Yemen. โ€œWe really hope this is the start of a new chapter.โ€
The conflict is widely seen as a proxy war between Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shiโ€™ite Iran.
Iran on Saturday said it hoped the truce could presage a complete lifting of the blockade and a permanent ceasefire.
REUTERS

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