Little hope for peace in Yemen’s Hodeida
HODEIDA, Yemen: War-weary residents of the flashpoint Yemeni port city of Hodeida have little hope of peace even as the UN regains control of vital food aid warehouses on the front lines.
The United Nations has since September been unable to reach the Red Sea Mills — carrying grain estimated to feed 3.7 million people for a month — in a government-controlled area near the city, just metres (yards) away from where the Huthi rebels are stationed.
The mission on Tuesday came after an agreement struck on Feb 17, in which the sides in Yemen’s conflict agreed to redeploy their fighters outside the ports and away from areas crucial to the humanitarian relief effort.
The ports are in the Huthiheld west of the country, and the agreement especially set out free access to the grain warehouses at Red Sea Mills, under the control of the Saudi-backed government forces.
On Wednesday, however, the streets of the city were empty amid rising tension as gunfire was heard overnight coming from the south, residents said.
“There is no hope as long as we can hear the sound of gunfire,” said 26-year-old Eman, a Hodeida resident.
The Huthi rebels — which took control of the lifeline port of Hodeida in 2014 — were stopping pedestrians as well as motorists and searching their vehicles, another resident said on Wednesday.
Since a ceasefire went into effect on Dec 18, there have been intermittent clashes between the Iran-aligned rebels and the government — backed by a Saudiled military coalition.
The two parties continuously accuse each other of violating the truce.
Hani, a bus driver in the city, said he did not expect the situation to change any time soon.
“I expect that the humanitarian situation will change a little and aid will reach some citizens, but I don’t think there will be major change to the current situation,” said the 40-year-old.
“The fighting never stopped in the first place.”
The conflict has created what the UN describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with around 24 million Yemenis — more than three quarters of the country’s population — now dependent on some form of aid for survival.
Ten million are one step away from famine, according to the UN.