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HUDAYDAH, Yemen – The war in Yemen has intensified significantly over the past week, exacerbating a catastrophic humanitarian crisis that, according to the UN, could sink into famine, despite, indeed, because of diplomatic pressure of the United States, which has brought both parties to the table of peace.
The Saudi-led coalition, which the United States has armed and supported, has launched a series of punitive air strikes against the Houthi rebels. The planes hit targets in the capital, Sana. in the mountainous provinces of the north; and in the Red Sea port of Hudaydah, where humanitarian aid workers warn, the country's main humanitarian lifeline is no longer worthwhile.
A humanitarian worker and two Western officials, who asked not to be identified to speak openly about Hudaydah, said in interviews that the coalition, commanded locally by the United Arab Emirates, had redoubled its five-month offensive. aiming to wrest the city Houthi control.
Columns of Yemeni militia fighting under the coalition flag broke out on a prominent front line and swept the desert on the eastern edge of the city, threatening to completely encircle it, they say. Warplanes and attack helicopters have bombed Houthi positions in the city, which aid workers have described as an almost continuous barrage of air strikes.
In the city, local people said that Houthi fighters were entrenched, taking up positions in apartment buildings, hospitals and homes. At least 150 fighters on both sides have been reported dead so far.
Tens of thousands of civilians, some of whom have only recently returned to the city after a lull in fighting, are taking refuge at home, waiting for their anxiety. As the front lines moved, some were forced to flee. A handful of people were killed by stray shots.
Despite the clashes, the port of Hudaydah, just north of the city, still operates. On Tuesday, seven ships were docked and another eight were waiting, including a vessel containing 10,000 tons of relief grain, officials said.
It is striking that the relief shipment was funded by the United Arab Emirates – the same power that was sending screaming warplanes over the city as its officers commanded the assault on Hudaydah from the south.
The upsurge in fighting began a few days after US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called for a Saudi-led coalition with the Houthis. to start peace talks within 30 days. His statement came as more and more questions arose as to whether the US military was doing enough to reduce civilian casualties.
The Yemeni crisis, already serious for several years, has recently deteriorated so much that the United Nations has warned that 14 million people, or half of the population, may soon be on the verge of starvation. This week, the chief humanitarian coordinator, Mark Lowcock, described this perspective as an "apocalyptic scenario".
The upsurge in fighting may come from a Saudi desire to make territorial gains before any dialogue. But analysts say it could just as easily plunge the country deeper into the war.
"Any military escalation will not help efforts to revive the political process," said Martin Griffiths, UN peace envoy, in a text message. "Nobody wants to see a disaster in Hudaydah."
In a previous offensive a year ago, the Houthis fought back by launching missiles near the Saudi capital, Riyadh, pushing the Saudis to impose a seven-week air and sea blockade on Houthi-controlled ports. This time, at the request of UN officials, the Houthis did not fire any missiles at the border. But as the fighting intensifies, officials warn that it's not clear how long this duress will last.
For now, the main concern is to keep open the main gateway for humanitarian supplies from Yemen.
About 75 percent of all international relief flows through Hudaydah, and the population of the city has grown in recent weeks as refugees who fled in June were filtered at home. Radhwan Shujaibi, a father of four, said he could no longer stand the cramped and desperate conditions his family had endured in Sana.
"Now we are at home," he said. "We live in dignity, we die in dignity."
In the city center, Huthi motorcycle fighters travel on largely empty streets, carrying sniper rifles and rocket launchers. Some have ousted residents from their homes, which they used for sniper positions. The Houthis have been preparing for months for a battle inside the city, digging trenches in the streets and laying antipersonnel mines.
Residents say that artillery explosions or coalition warfighters fire and Apache combat helicopters are constant. Early Monday morning, mortar shells hit a print shop on the outskirts of the city, making at least one worker and three wounded, according to factory officials.
Humanitarian workers say 90 percent of the patients have fled the city's main hospital, which is now less than one kilometer from the front. Unicef reported that 59 children, including 25 in the hospital's intensive care unit, were about to die.
Over the weekend, the United Nations intervened to prevent the Saudi-led coalition from bombing the hospital, where Houthi fighters had taken up positions on the roof.
This is a frequent problem in Hudaydah, where Houthi fighters often fight close to humanitarian buildings protected by a no-strike list established by the coalition, the United States and the UN. Houthi fighters hide weapons or station troops next to such buildings in the hope of protecting them from air strikes – but in doing so, can turn these buildings into legitimate military targets.
The Saudi-led coalition assured the United Nations that it did not intend to wage the fight in Hudaydah or seize the port of the city. But the Saudi forces are a few kilometers from the city's northern gates. If they captured this area, they could encircle the city and impose a siege that would imprison tens of thousands of civilians alongside the Houthis.
The United Nations has placed a ship off the coast to evacuate their personnel in case of prolonged fighting on the streets. For civilians, a siege would further limit access to food or drinking water and could lead to a deadly cholera outbreak. As the fighting approaches, many make difficult calculations.
Bandar Khaled, an unemployed shipping manager for several months, has expressed concern that his family will soon be unable to leave. "Getting stuck here would be the worst," he said.
According to a senior Western official aware of the peace efforts, the political turmoil caused by the death of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi is partly at the root of the problem. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, an essential American ally, subjected to a careful examination of his alleged role in the death of Mr. Khashoggi, is giving an increasingly blurred direction to Yemen.
Some US officials, led by Mattis, are seeking to help Prince Mohammed pull out of the Yemeni war, a difficult and unsuccessful campaign that, according to some officials, is becoming a similar military and diplomatic quagmire in Vietnam. .
The Western official said that General Joseph Votel, head of the United States Central Command, had drafted a proposal that the Saudis reduce their air strikes against Yemen in exchange for a Houthi commitment. do not shoot rockets in Saudi Arabia.
At the same time, United Nations special envoy Griffiths hopes to gain political momentum before speaking to the Security Council in Yemen on 16 November.
But it remains a pit of trust. An attempt to bring the Houthis to the peace talks in Geneva in September ended in failure after Houthi officials did not show up. Houthi officials complained that they did not trust the Saudis, who control the airspace over Yemen, to ensure their safety from and to the country.
United Nations representatives said they are working to overcome these concerns and to ensure that both sides are engaged in the talks.
