End of ceasefire was inevitable

The behaviour of the Houthi rebels in Yemen gave the coalition forces no other choice

A young member of Houthi militia mans a machine gun at a checkpoint. After repeated violations, the ceasefire in Yemen has been declared over (EPA/YAHYA ARHAB)

There was a grim inevitability to the announcement on Saturday by the Saudi-led coalition that the ceasefire in Yemen had ended. Inevitable because, frankly, there never was a ceasefire, at least not in the sense most of the world would understand one.

From the very beginning of the ceasefire three weeks ago, it became clear that the Houthi rebels were planning to use it in the way they have used every other ceasefire during the past year – as a chance to regroup and rearm. Ceasefires are an opportunity for a pause in hostilities while talks are conducted. But in this case – as in the past – the Houthis used it as an opportunity to attack Saudi targets with missiles, attack residential areas and block the delivery of food and aid. There was no way for the ceasefire to continue under those circumstances.

It is the blocking of aid and food deliveries that is the most egregious of the Houthis’ crimes over these past three weeks, and the one that best gives the lie to their purported ambitions to “help” Yemen’s people.

The war has taken a devastating toll on ordinary civilians, and this pause was an opportunity for aid to be delivered and for many in Taez and beyond to receive medical attention. Instead, the Houthis saw a chance to inflict further suffering as a way of pursuing collective punishment against a people who have rejected their ideologies.

Yesterday, our news pages featured an interview with Hamoud Al Mikhlafi, the leader of the resistance to the Houthis in Taez. Unsurprisingly after fighting the troops of Ali Abdullah Saleh during the revolution and then fighting the Houthis (supported by Mr Saleh), Mr Al Mikhlafi is pessimistic about the possibilities of peace. “The matter of Yemen can only be solved by force,” he said.

This newspaper still believes there is a peaceful solution to the Yemen crisis. But it has to be a genuinely diplomatic solution, where there is compromise. So far, the Houthis have shown no signs of wanting compromise or genuinely seeking peace. Their only policy thus far is war.