Following months of deadly battles, the warring parties in Yemen agreed on Dec. 13 to a CEASEFIRE in Hodeidah, the flashpoint port city, which is Yemen’s main link to the outside world. This is an enormous breakthrough in what the UN calls the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” with rampant war crimes and crimes against humanity coupled with disease and imminent war-induced famine. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the Houthis agreed to withdraw from the strategic western city and relinquish control of three of its ports, which have been blocked due to fighting and serve as a major lifeline for more than 18 million Yemenis who live in rebel-held territory. In a poignant and symbolic gesture, Yemen’s Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yaman and the head of the Houthi delegation, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, shook hands, agreeing to open up the road connecting Hodeidah to Sanaa, Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital, so that a humanitarian pipeline can start delivering food and aid to the starving, war-beleaguered people of Yemen.
Jewish World Watch
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