The Houthis rejected the truce of the Saudi-Emirati coalition that came into effect on Thursday, describing it as a maneuver, and accused the coalition of continuing the military escalation on several fronts, stressing that any cease-fire will not succeed unless accompanied by the lifting of the blockade that the group accuses the coalition of imposing on Yemen.

The Houthi spokesman, Muhammad Abd al-Salam, said that the ceasefire stance, which he described as aggressive states, was a political and media maneuver aimed at sabotaging the Houthi vision presented to the United Nations regarding the solution.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera, Abdul Salam added that stopping the war in Yemen cannot pass through a two-week truce.

He added that if there was a real cease-fire and a lifting of the siege, the Houthis would consider this a real step, and he said that the main problem of Saudi Arabia is its desire to be a leader of the war and a party to peace at the same time, as he put it.

Simultaneously, the military spokesman for the Houthi group said that what he described as the forces of aggression continued to escalate on the different fronts, especially on the Yemeni-Saudi border.

He added that the "forces of aggression" carried out since the dawn of today, under an extensive air cover, creeping in several directions on the Haradh region in the Hajjah governorate, as well as on the Asir and Al-Baqa areas in Najran, stressing the death of dozens of dead and wounded who he described as the aggressors during fighting in these areas.

Al-Bakhiti considered that the truce announced by Riyadh does not express its desire for peace (Al-Jazeera)

Ongoing war

For his part, Houthi political bureau member Muhammad al-Bakhiti said that what Saudi Arabia declared was not a truce, but an announcement of the continuation of the war because Saudi Arabia uses its ground, air and naval forces to impose a siege on Yemen.

Al-Bakhiti added in statements to Al-Jazeera that the Saudi announcement does not express a real desire to bring peace, since after five years of war, and after the balance of power tends in favor of the Houthis, Riyadh announces a partial truce while continuing to impose the siege on the Yemenis.

He went on to say that the war continues as long as the blockade continues, noting that the damage to the siege on Yemen is more than the harm of military operations, describing the move that was declared ridiculous and ridiculous for Riyadh.

The Houthi leader pointed to the group's recent initiative to end the war in Yemen and establish a comprehensive peace in it, and said that the Houthis would stop targeting Saudi Arabia if it stopped all its military operations and lifted the siege on Yemen.

In the same context, Secretary of the Houthi Political Council Yasser Al-Houry told the French press that the coalition "violates every truce declared."

Extendable
The Saudi-Emirati alliance has said that this truce will last for two weeks, and that it is extendable.

His spokesman added that this decision came in support of the Yemeni government in accepting the invitation of the United Nations Secretary-General in order to face the consequences of the spread of Corona virus.

The coalition also said that this step aims to facilitate the talks sponsored by United Nations envoy Martin Griffiths in order to establish a permanent ceasefire in Yemen, as well as to avoid a possible outbreak of the Corona epidemic in Yemen.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Sanaa, Muhammad al-Attab, said that there were air strikes hours before the truce took effect, adding that no further strikes were reported after the ceasefire entered into force.

For its part, Houthi-affiliated media said that the Saudi-Emirati coalition launched raids on areas in Al-Jouf and Hajjah. These raids came just before the ceasefire went into effect.

On the other hand, Yemeni Information Minister Muammar Al-Iryani said that the Houthi group violated the ceasefire by bombing the cities of Ma'rib (east) and Al-Hodeidah (west).

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Different positions

For his part, Ali Mohsen Saleh, Yemeni Vice President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, said that directives were issued by President Hadi to respond to the call for a ceasefire endorsed by the Saudi-Emirati coalition.

The United Nations also welcomed the step and called on the parties to the conflict in Yemen to take advantage of this opportunity, to stop immediately all hostilities at full speed, and to make progress towards a comprehensive and sustainable peace.

In this context, the UN's envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, expressed his hope that the ceasefire would contribute to preparing for the steps taken to enhance confidence building and reach a peaceful solution.

As for the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash, he said in a tweet on Twitter today that he hoped that the Houthis would abide by the truce declared by the coalition.

The Arab League also called for the Houthi group to respond to the Saudi direct ceasefire.

It is noteworthy that the Houthi group and the Yemeni government reached the end of 2018 under the auspices of the United Nations for a peace agreement in the coastal city of Hodeidah (western Yemen), and the exchange of thousands of prisoners, but the agreement was not implemented in full.