NOVANEWS
As Saudi-Led Attack on Hodeidah Escalates, Yemeni Tribes Bolster Resistance
Since 2015, when the U.S.-Saudi-led coalition launched its military campaign against Yemen, about 15,000 civilians have been killed and 3,000 injured, according new statistics made available to MintPress by The Legal Center for Rights and Development.
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The attack on Hodeidah — Yemen’s fourth largest city and predominant port on the Red Sea, responsible for providing over 70 percent of Yemenis’ food, aid and medicine — has gained speed this week as the U.S.-Saudi-led coalition rejected an initiative from the United Nations envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, aimed at ending the fighting in the port city and surrounding area.
Griffiths had presented a plan on June 3, during his visit to Sana’a, in an effort to stop the fighting along Yemen’s West Coast, but the plan was rejected by the Saudi-led coalition despite having been supported by the Houthi rebels.
“We have accepted that the United Nations have a technical and logistic role in the port of Hodeidah but the enemies have refused to do so,” stated Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi during a televised speech on Friday marking the anniversary of Al-Sarkha (“the slogan”) — the day of Houthis’ declaration of opposition to U.S. policies in the Middle East in 2002. “The enemies’ excuses were cut off by our initiative,” he added.
Earlier this month on July 4, Martin Griffiths said that he had held talks with al-Houthi. During a press conference that same day, Griffiths stated
“I’m greatly reassured by the messages I have received [from the Houthis], which have been positive and constructive.”
The Saudi-led coalition, however, rejected Griffiths’ efforts. The coalition, which has been waging a war against Yemen since early 2015, claims that the Houthis are using Hodeidah for weapons deliveries, an allegation rejected by Hodeidah`s local residents and the Houthis.
However, the Hodeidah port is the lifeline for the majority of Yemen’s population, which is why Saudi Arabia has make it into a target, attacking the Yemenis’ lifeline to survival. An attack against it threatens over 70 percent of the population, who are in need of relief aid like food, fuel and medicine owing to Saudi Arabia’s ongoing war against the poorest country in the Middle East.
