Almost a year and a half after the start of the armed conflict in northern Ethiopia, the government in Addis Ababa announced an "indefinite humanitarian ceasefire".
The ceasefire will come into force "immediately", the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Thursday.
The aim is to "substantially improve the humanitarian situation on the ground and enable a solution to the conflict in northern Ethiopia without further bloodshed".
"In order to maximize the success of the humanitarian ceasefire, the government calls on the insurgents in Tigray to refrain from any further acts of aggression and to withdraw from areas they have occupied in neighboring regions," the statement said.
According to the UN, around nine million people in northern Ethiopia are dependent on food aid.
Prime Minister and Nobel Prize winner Abiy Ahmed has been accused of a de facto blockade of Tigray in recent months.
William Davison, Ethiopia expert at the International Crisis Group research group, described the humanitarian ceasefire as an "important step".
However, it is crucial that the promise is implemented quickly, Davison emphasized.
The delivery of humanitarian aid is "crucial" to the people of Tigray, who have not received any such assistance since December.
The military conflict between the Ethiopian central government and the People's Liberation Front of Tigray (TPLF) began in November 2020. In Africa's second largest country in terms of population with 115 million inhabitants, the clashes have led to a serious economic and humanitarian crisis in several parts of the country.
The USA and the EU have cut aid, the annual inflation rate was around 35 percent in 2021.