Houthis reject Saudi ceasefire offer, drone attack a Saudi airport

Dubai/Sana: – Saudi Arabia proposed a ceasefire to the Houthi rebels in Yemen to end the six-year-long conflict. Saudi said in the proposal, ‘Houthis need to decide whether the interests of people of Yemen or Iran are to be given a priority.’ But the Houthi rebels have defied the Saudi proposal to carry out a drone attack on a Saudi airport.

Prince Faisal Bin Farhan, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister, presented a proposal for a ceasefire in front of the government in Yemen and the Houthi rebels. While proposing this, the Saudi Foreign Minister also announced two concessions for the Houthi rebels. Saudi allowed restarting of the Sana airport. Saudi assured that henceforth, there would be no attacks from Saudi and its allies on Yemen.

At the same time, Prince Faisal announced that the Hodeida port’s blockades will be cleared to allow the Houthi rebels to export oil. Saudi clarified that the Houthi rebels would be able to take the benefit of the funds collected against these exports in the Yemen coffers. The Saudi Foreign Minister clarified that no questions would be asked to the Houthis regarding this. Faisal only said that the Houthis would have to decide whether Iran or the people of Yemen is the priority.

In the past, the Houthi rebels had taken over nearly $200 million from the funds received against oil exports and used only a small part of it to pay salaries to the government employees. This is noted in the report of the United Nations. In this scenario, it was being said that the Houthis were being offered a major relief with the ceasefire proposal. The United States welcomed this Saudi proposal. But the Houthi rebels rejected the Saudi proposal.

Mohammed Abdulsalam, the spokesman of the Houthi rebels, said that there is nothing new in the Saudi proposal. Abdulsalam demanded that Saudi, a party in the Yemen conflict, withdraw all the sanctions imposed on Yemen. Abdulsalam rejected the Saudi proposal saying that Saudi should release the 14 Houthi ships detained by it. Within a few hours, the Houthi rebels carried out a drone attack on an airport in south Saudi. Saudi has not revealed any details of the attack.

In 2015, civil war was sparked in Yemen. Besides, more than 130,000 people have been killed in the conflict. Millions have been displaced due to the conflict, and the United Nations has expressed concerns that more than 15 million people will be faced with famine. Many have also expressed concerns that a major humanitarian crisis has developed in Yemen. Houthi rebels control nearly 80% of the Yemenis territory and important administrative and financial cities like capital Sana and Hodeida are under Houthi control. The United Nations and international human rights organisations are accusing that more than the Houthi rebels, Saudi Arabia is responsible for these crises in Yemen.

Meanwhile, the Houthi rebels have dismissed a Saudi ceasefire proposal, even in the past. This makes it clear, once again, that the aggression of the Houthi rebels is increasing ever since the United States removed them from the list of terrorist organisations.