International

UN Warns Yemen Of 'Devastating Region-Wide Escalation' Amid Situations In Red Sea, Israel

Yemen is the Arab world's poorest country and faces one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

A camp for conflict-displaced people in Yemen. |
A camp for conflict-displaced people in Yemen. | Photo: File Image
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The U.N. envoy for Yemen warned Tuesday that recent developments in the Red Sea, Israel and inside the country 바카라œshow the real danger of a devastating region-wide escalation바카라 바카라” but he also pointed to a glimmer of hope.

Hans Grundberg said Yemen's warring parties 바카라” the internationally recognized government and Houthi rebels 바카라“ informed him Monday night 바카라œthat they have agreed on a path to de-escalate a cycle of measures and countermeasures which had sought to tighten their grip on the banking and transport sectors.바카라

Grundberg told the U.N. Security Council that seven months of escalation reached 바카라œa new and dangerous level last week바카라 which saw a Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv and Israeli retaliatory attacks on Yemen's key port of Hodeida and its oil and power facilities.

He said Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways continue, and that the rebels are escalating their crackdown 바카라œon civic space and on international organizations,바카라 and escalating economic issues have been 바카라œtranslating into public threats to return to full-fledged war.바카라

Yemen has been engulfed in civil war since 2014, when the Iranian-backed Houthis seized much of northern Yemen and forced the internationally recognized government to flee from the capital, Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year in support of government forces, and in time the conflict turned into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

While fighting has decreased considerably since a six-month truce in 2022, Grundberg told the council this month clashes have been reported along numerous frontlines 바카라œand we have witnessed an increase in military preparations and reinforcements.바카라

Much of Yemen's south including the major city Aden is governed by the secessionist Southern Transitional Council, a United Arab Emirates-backed group that is an ally of the internationally recognized government.

Rivalry between the Houthis and the southern government have fueled an economic divide, with the rivals establishing separate and independent central banks and different versions of the country's currency, the riyal.

Grundberg gave no details of the de-escalation agreement the parties informed him of, but he told the council the 바카라œunderstanding바카라 followed months of contacts with his office, which warned of the risk to the Yemeni people that 바카라œthe deepening weaponization of the economy바카라 would pose.

바카라œI welcome the parties' decision to choose a path of dialogue and I look forward to engaging further with the parties to support them in implementing their commitments with regard to the banking sector and Yemenia Airways,바카라 he said. 바카라œThe aim remains a unified currency, a unified and independent central bank, and a banking sector free of political interference.바카라

Nonetheless, while Grundberg welcomed the willingness of both sides to engage on economic issues, he said, 바카라œI reiterate my warning to the council that we risk a return to full-scale war and all the predictable human suffering and regional implications that entails.바카라

Yemen is the Arab world's poorest country and faces one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Acting U.N. humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya told the council that Yemen's GDP has shrunk by more than half since the conflict began, and a recent World Bank analysis found it contracted even further in the last year.

The fall in the value of the riyal has driven already sky-high food prices further out of reach for millions of people, she said.

바카라œI urge the parties to seize this opportunity to find sustainable solutions to these challenges,바카라 Msuya said. 바카라œMillions of people across the country depend on it.바카라

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