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In a statement issued before leaving Sanaa, capital of the rebellion, Martin Griffiths said that the rebels had expressed a "strong desire for peace" and had discussed "concrete ideas for achieving peace" without elaborating.
He said that he could meet with President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in the city of Aden, in the south of the country.
A Saudi-led coalition, allied with the internationally recognized Hadi government, has been at war with the Houthis since 2015, and previous peace efforts have failed.
The UN hopes to prevent a large-scale coalition attack on the port city of Hodeida, a life-saving lifeline for a country already on the verge of starvation.
The government has called on the Houthis to withdraw from all areas they control, including a "full and unconditional" withdrawal from Hodeida.
The Houthis refused to withdraw from Hodeida, but they recently proposed to let the UN handle the port as part of a ceasefire in the city. Griffiths said earlier that both sides have accepted the agreement in principle, and that the UN would take over the harbor administration as soon as they finalize the agreement.
The United Arab Emirates, a prominent member of the coalition, said the operations in Hodeida had been suspended to give the envoy a chance to negotiate a peaceful resolution. The fighting was largely confined to the outskirts of the city.
The UN regards Yemen as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, with more than 22 million people in need of badistance.
Nearly 70% of food and medicine imported from Yemen arrive in Hodeida and aid groups fear that a long battle could close the port and potentially tip millions of people into famine .
Houthis, accused by his rivals of being an Iranian attorney, arrested political opponents, including journalists.
The Yemeni Press Union denounced what he described as the abduction of Yemeni journalist Abdel-Salam al-Dais on Tuesday in Sanaa by an Houthi armed force. The union held the group accountable and called for the release of al-Dais.
In southern Yemen, where the UAE acts as de facto leaders through the militias they financed and armed, 29 detainees were released Wednesday from Beir Ahmed Prison in the city of Yemen. Aden, south, according to two witnesses. They spoke under cover of anonymity for security reasons.
An AP investigation last month found that torture and badual abuse were rampant in prisons, which sources said were headed by the UAE, including Beir Ahmed.
Also on Wednesday, the mothers of missing men and detainees demonstrated in front of the home of Interior Minister Ahmed al-Maysari in Aden to demand the release of their sons, according to the relative of his father. an inmate whose mother attended the meeting. .
Al-Maysari said earlier that he has no control over the prisons.
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