U.N.: GROUPS IN YEMEN TO RENEW TRUCE

The United Nations said Thursday that Yemen’s warring parties have agreed to renew a nationwide truce for another two months. The development offered a glimmer of hope for the country, plagued by eight years of civil war — though significant obstacles remain to lasting peace.

The cease-fire between Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels initially came into effect on April 2. And though each side at times accused the other of violating the ceasefire, it was the first nationwide truce in the past six years of the conflict in the Arab World’s most impoverished nation.

The announcement, which is the outcome of U.N. efforts, came only few hours before the original truce was set to expire later on Thursday.

“The truce represents a significant shift in the trajectory of the war and has been achieved through responsible and courageous decision making by the parties,” U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said in a statement. He said he will mediate between the warring parties to solidify the new truce and to try to eventually reach a political settlement to end the conflict.

President Joe Biden welcomed the development and stressed that ending the war in Yemen has been a priority of his administration. “I urge all parties to move expeditiously towards a comprehensive and inclusive peace process. Our diplomacy will not rest until a permanent settlement is in place,” he said.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that “regional and international support will remain critical for the continuation and successful implementation of the truce.”

The fighting in Yemen erupted in 2014, when the Houthis descended from their northern enclave and took over the capital of Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government to flee into exile in Saudi Arabia. A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in early 2015 to try to restore the government to power.

The conflict, which eventually descended into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has killed more than 150,000 people, including over 14,500 civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, pushing millions of Yemenis to the brink of famine.

The provisions of the original truce included reopening the roads around the besieged city of Taiz, establishing two commercial flights a week between Sanaa and Jordan and Egypt, and also allowing 18 vessels carrying fuel into the port of Hodeida. Both Sanaa and Hodeida are controlled by the Houthi rebels.