While over 10 million people in Yemen remain on the verge of starvation, diplomacy over the end of this war remains toothless and confused. Here’s some good news first: the US has reportedly stopped refuelling Saudi planes before they drop bombs. This could be considered a victory for those who have called for an end to the endless suffering of the people of Yemen, but the rationale is not to put pressure on Saudi Arabia to end the war. Instead, American officials have said that the Saudis have developed the appropriate infrastructure to manage refuelling on their own. Behind the scenes, it was the threat from the US Congress to condemn the controversial refuelling this week that pushed the move to avoid public embarrassment. That this is a ramification of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, not a principled stand against the plight of the Yemeni people, is sufficiently clear. If anything, there are strong rumours that suggest that US President Trump could move to declare the Houthi rebels a ‘terrorist’ group, which would then continue to provide rationale to keep up weapons supplies to the Saudis even if the Khashoggi murder ramifications lead to Congress attempting a ban on selling weapons to the kingdom.
Another piece of good news is that the British foreign secretary has asked Saudi Arabia to end the war in Yemen. Coming during a meeting in Saudi Arabia, there seems to be some declaration of intent which could lead to pressure to clamp down on the war in Yemen. The trouble is that the Shia-Sunni proxy war between Iran and the Saudis is what really needs fixing – and this is a no-go zone for all international actors. Moreover, most countries stand to benefit by the ongoing proxy conflict between the two oil-producing countries. This is as the bad news continues to pour from Yemen: 150 Yemenis have been reported killed in the last 24 hours, as fighting in the port city of Hodeidah has reached residential streets. The coalition troops took control of a grain mill, amongst other key infrastructure. The Saudi-led coalition continues to ignore international calls for a ceasefire from a list of countries, which now includes the US. The only way the coalition will heed these calls is for concrete action, rather than non-threatening calls, for sanity. Sanity is exactly what has not prevailed and is unlikely to prevail in the current circumstances. The intense fighting on the streets of Hodeidah means that pressure for an immediate ceasefire must be concrete and real. This will need to be followed by serious negotiations for a peace settlement.