The United States and the United Nations called for a ceasefire in Yemen, amid a military escalation on several fronts, and mutual operations between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.

The US State Department said Tuesday that the US special envoy to Yemen, Timothy Lenderking, is working with the UN special envoy Martin Griffiths and regional countries to reach a ceasefire in Yemen.

She added that Lenderking would return to the region if the Houthis were ready to negotiate, noting that Washington welcomes the Houthis to join the peace and diplomacy path.

The US State Department called on all parties in Yemen to seriously adhere to the ceasefire, saying that the United States remains deeply concerned about the recurrence of Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia.

She expressed her belief that Iran has an opportunity to play an influential and more positive role in Yemen.

For her part, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas Greenfield, said Tuesday during a session of the United Nations Security Council via video link that her country is stepping up its diplomatic activities to end the war in Yemen.

Greenfield called for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in Yemen, but considered that stopping the fighting and achieving peace in Yemen would not be achieved if the Houthis continued their daily attacks against the Yemeni people and Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, Iran offered what it said was a peace plan to end the war in Yemen, while a leader of the Houthi group praised what he called positive statements by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken regarding Yemen's freedom from foreign interference.

Griffiths said that the air strikes inside the borders of Sanaa endangered civilians there (Reuters)

The conflict is deteriorating badly

During the Security Council session via video, the UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths said that the conflict in this country is deteriorating significantly, and stressed the urgent need for a ceasefire.

Griffiths added that the Houthi attack on Marib Governorate continues, and endangers civilians - including about a million displaced people -. He described the continuing violence in Hodeidah (western Yemen) as worrying, noting that it caused civilian deaths and injuries, including women and children.

The UN envoy also said that the air strikes inside the borders of the city of Sana'a had put civilians there at risk.

At the same time, he expressed concern about the intensification of missile and drone attacks and the targeting of civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia by the Houthis.

With regard to efforts to stop the conflict, the UN envoy said that there can be no preconditions for resuming the political process in Yemen.

Griffiths stressed that the ceasefire in all parts of Yemen, the opening of Sana'a airport, and the guarantee of the flow of fuel and goods;

An urgent humanitarian necessity, pointing to the exacerbation of the manifestations of the humanitarian crisis there.

He said that Yemen is the largest humanitarian disaster in the world, and that the famine increases the tragedy of the Yemenis, calling on the Yemeni parties to give priority to civilian needs, and not to exploit the economy in the war.

As for the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs for Yemen, Mark Lowcock, he said that the donors ’conference on Yemen raised $ 1.7 billion, adding that this is less than half of what we need for the response plan this year, warning that Yemen is rapidly heading towards massive famine caused by the president’s lack of resources.

Drones shown by Houthi media (Reuters)

Boat booby traps and raids

In terms of military developments, Saudi media reported on Tuesday that a booby-trapped Houthi boat had been destroyed before it carried out an attack against the Salif port in northern Yemen.

For its part, Houthi media reported that the Saudi-Emirati coalition launched 30 raids on Tuesday in Marib, Saada and Amran (northern Yemen).

Earlier, the coalition announced the destruction of a fortified cache of ballistic missiles and launchers in the city of Saada, while Saudi media reported that the coalition had intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by the Houthis on Tuesday morning towards Khamis Mushait (southern Saudi Arabia).

Saudi media said that the Houthis fired two ballistic missiles on Monday at Khamis Mushait in the Asir governorate, which borders Yemen, and confirmed that they launched from populated areas in Saada governorate.

On the other hand, the Houthi’s military spokesman, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said Tuesday that the group’s air force carried out an offensive operation against military targets at Abha International Airport and the King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait with 3 “Qasef K2” (K2) drones.

The military spokesman added that hitting the military targets was accurate.

Battles for Ma'rib and Taiz

On the other hand, local sources reported that violent clashes took place on Tuesday between the Yemeni army forces and the Houthis in the Kassara area (north of the city of Ma'rib).

Yemeni local sources also reported that one person was killed and 8 wounded, as a ballistic missile fell on a popular market in the city of Marib.

The Yemeni army had previously confirmed that it had repelled Houthi attacks towards the city of Ma'rib, which they had been trying for weeks to advance towards from several axes.

On Tuesday, the Yemeni army announced that its forces had taken control of the strategic Jabal Al-Sarhim belonging to the isolation of Bilad Al-Wafi (north of the Jabal Habashi district, west of Taiz).

In the past few days, the Yemeni army was able to advance in western Taiz governorate.

To partially lift the blockade imposed by the Houthis from the west.