Battles renewed on the Griffith movement

Our News The pace of diplomatic efforts to roll back the political process in Yemen for almost two years, since Hodeidah, which seems to be becoming a title for any peace agreement or point of war, is accelerating. Yemen, Martin Griffith, commutes between major capitals and is the last to negotiate with the Ansar Allah (Houthis) group in Sanaa. Meanwhile, air raids and artillery fire were renewed between Houthis and government forces near Hodeidah airport.

The Houthis strengthened their fortifications in the city of Hodeidah, taking advantage of government forces to suspend their offensive pending the outcome of the UN talks in Sanaa, when 54 people were killed in air strikes south of the Red Sea. "The Houthis have dug dozens of new trenches in the middle of the main and secondary streets, and they have turned waste containers and other concrete figures into obstacles," residents of the city of Hodeidah said. # 39; AFP. According to government sources, "the Huthi rebels' military reinforcements have arrived in the city of Hodeidah, and government forces have also provided additional reinforcements to their positions in the southern suburbs of the city." The sources said that "both parties are preparing to fight new confrontations after days of calm". According to Yemeni sources close to the Houthis of the "New Arab", the condition of withdrawal of the city of Hodeidah and the regions of the province in response to international efforts is still rejected by the group, in exchange for the constant agreement of the Yemeni government and the Alliance. Focused on the unconditional withdrawal efforts of the Houthi of Hodeidah, although the issue of ignoring all conditions, prone to negotiation, if understanding leads to a peaceful withdrawal to avoid the city where the artery feeds millions , a battle threatens the unknown consequences on the humanitarian situation, United Nations and organizations for humanity "

Sources have revealed that" the new is to seek to postpone the solution to the negotiations, the Houthis retain control from the city of Hodeidah, and may hand the port over to the observers of the faithful, that the legitimate forces remain in the controlled areas. "Close to the Houthis and statements of the UN envoy, the Purpose is to extend the truce to become Hodeida one of the topics of the negotiations. "Negotiations are currently underway to find out if the Houthis will accept sufficient concessions to continue the truce, or if the coalition and legitimacy agree to extend the truce to negotiations. It is certain from reliable sources that the Houthis have not yet begun to accept the idea of ​​withdrawing from Hodeidah, and that the government and the Alliance have so far not only accepted the question of the surrender of the port.

Although the chances of a UN envoy to Sanaa convincing the Houthis to accept government demands for withdrawal seem weak, Griffiths is seeking, according to political leaks, to reach different points of view. Convergence on the resumption of political negotiations through a series of consultations To be held in the coming weeks, with guarantees constantly preventing the military operations related to the progress towards the city of Hodeidah and the port. This means that in case of parties' involvement, the military situation will continue with intermittent clashes and calm, as has been the case for more than a week.

Just as climbing on the West Coast was and remains the most important axis, which will lead to the agreement of the parties or not to enter negotiations soon and to postpone Hodeidah's solution to the upcoming negotiations. In addition to sources close to the Houthis, the indicators reinforce the transformation of Hodeidah into a pivotal address of the agreement, which could end the negotiations with arrangements going beyond the situation in the province, in case of success or failure. more violent resumption of military operations. The interlocutors have failed access to the solution. The last is what happened during previous rounds sponsored by the former emissary, Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed, for more than three years.

From another angle, concerning the resumption of negotiations, the Griffiths Strong international force movements that would allow it to impose a temporary suspension of military operations against Hodeidah. This impression is reinforced by the large number of Griffiths visits to Sanaa, Aden and the capitals of the countries in the region in recent weeks. All of this leads to the possibility of the parties to the conflict conducting close consultations, which will not only improve developments on the ground and overall political complexities, but also international pressures and temporary arrangements, if the UN envoy United manages to conclude them on Hodeidah.

Since April, the international envoy has been preparing the peace plan and the proposed negotiating framework, which was to be presented to the UN Security Council in mid-June. According to the leaks, he did not depart from the outline, which included the initiative of his predecessor, and develops Hodeidah to mix the papers and enforce as a priority on the records below.

Since the escalation of the war in Yemen in March 2015, three rounds of consultations have taken place between the Yemeni parties (government and Houthi delegations and their allies), the first in Geneva in June 2015 and the second in Basel last December Himself, and once that was over, a new wave of military escalation began. However, the most significant cycle, which has been marked by the biggest truce, from April to August 2016, confers on it success factors that may not be available today. But the end was disappointing and almost the only positive result was to present the broad outlines of the upcoming negotiations by dividing them into two political and security dimensions.

Hodeidah was also the subject of an initiative of the former UN envoy in 2017 to hand over the administration of the port of Hodeidah to a third party, which the Houthis have rejected and accepted, following the recent escalation, Is high and understands the complete withdrawal of the group's activists, and is likely to see the coming weeks, decisive developments, in both cases: Hodeidah and the launch of A new round of negotiations.