The Saudi-led coalition has announced the cessation of its military operations in Yemen, starting at 6 AM on Wednesday
The announcement came ahead of a deadline for accepting a peace initiative announced by Mahdi al-Mashat, President of the Supreme Political Council of Yemen.
The Saudi-led coalition said it would suspend military operations inside Yemen “to make the consultations a success and create a positive environment for peacemaking within the month of Ramadan.”
However, the coalition said the cessation comes in a response to the call of the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is subject to Riyadh’s resolutions, in an attempt to avoid embarrassment.
It is important to note that Saudi Arabia did not vow to lift the stifling siege and blockade on Yemen, which was a key demand of the Yemeni peace initiative proposal. The siege, which blocks most necessary goods such as food, medicine and fuel from entering Yemen, has been far more deadly for the Yemeni population than the actual warfare and has killed tens of thousands of civilians already.
If Saudi Arabia does not lift the siege, its military truce alone does not suffice to count as meeting the demands of the Yemeni peace initiative.
