A ceasefire agreed between Yemen’s warring parties in Hodeidah will begin on Tuesday, December 18, said Yahya Sarea, Senior official of the Houthi armed forces at a news conference in Sanaa.
The Iranian-aligned Houthi group and the Saudi-backed government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi agreed after a week of U.N.-sponsored peace talks in Sweden to cease fighting in the Red Sea city and withdraw forces.
Residents in Hodeidah are hoping the ceasefire will bring peace and stability, allowing them to return to work and move forward with their lives.
The United Nations is trying to avert a full-scale assault on the port, the entry point for most of Yemen’s commercial goods and crucial aid supplies.
It is a lifeline for millions of Yemenis facing starvation.
The agreement, the first significant breakthrough in peace efforts in five years, was part of confidence-building measures discussed at peace talks that aim to pave the way for a wider truce and a framework for political negotiations.
Under the deal, international monitors would be deployed in Hodeidah and all armed forces would pull back completely within 21 days of the start of the ceasefire.
