Peace in Yemen may be elusive

Some Yemenis have accused the Houthis of making concessions to Saudi Arabia and abandoning Hodeida, while others believe they made sacrifices necessary to alleviate the suffering of the people. Ahmed Saif Hashed, a member of Yemen’s parliament, went so far as to accuse the Houthis of abandoning Yemen’s popular revolution in return for participation in a national government

Other Yemenis see the outcome of peace talks in Sweden as simply being confidence-building measures, the first steps to ending the dire humanitarian situation. They see the talks as actually having netted very little, as profound differences still remain. The unresolved issues of humanitarian corridors, a prisoner swap, and the reopening of the defunct Sana’a International Airport still remain and, functionally, the only breakthrough achieved in the talks was over the fate of Hodeida.

Even the agreement over the control of Hodeida has been subject to much disagreement. While both sides have agreed to a UN role in the port, they differ on who should run the city. The Houthis want Hodeida declared a militarily neutral zone, saying they retain political charge of the city, but Saudi-backed forces argue political control of the city is a matter of “sovereignty” and that they should be handed political control.

Deep-rooted political divisions also remain around the presidency, a united government, early elections, the outcome of the National Dialogue Conference (NDC), a weapons handover, the building of a single national army, and future relations with the countries currently fighting in Yemen. These multiple divisions combine to make peace elusive in the near term according to many observers.

Others say the willingness of both sides to show flexibility in Sweden reflected their zeal for ending, or at least alleviating, the suffering of Yemeni people — saying that the cooperation will open a window to further constructive talks in January and better understanding between the warring parties to end the war.  Mohammed Fayed, however, believes that peace in Yemen will be achieved only if international pressure on the Saudi alliance continues.

The starvation, death, and epidemics that are rampant in Yemen cannot be resolved without addressing the Saudi role in causing them. At a time when Yemen’s former government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi views Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as friends and allies, most Yemenis see them as an occupying enemy.

For the time being, these considerations have been put on the back burner as the fragile ceasefire in Hodeida has already been shattered. Since peace talks ended last week, the Saudi-led coalition has already conducted 50 airstrikes and Saudi artillery has fired more than 300 mortar shells into Hodeida’s residential areas, killing five more civilians.

A man reads al-Thawra newspaper at Souq al-Melh marketplace in the old city of Sana’a, Yemen, Dec. 11, 2018. Yemen’s warring sides agreed Thursday to an immediate cease-fire in the strategic port city of Hodeida, where fighting has disrupted vital aid deliveries and left the country on the brink of starvation in the 4-year-old civil war.