The first three days of the Yemen peace talks in Geneva were pretty unproductive, but at least no one got hit. The situation took a turn for the worse on Thursday, when the Houthis’ attempt to hold a press event was attacked by supporters of the Hadi faction.
Houthi delegate Hamza al-Houthi was delivering his address to the assembled media when one of the Hadi delegates rushed the stage and threw a shoe at him. Shoes started flying back and forth, despite Houthi’s attempt to keep talking and ignore the disruption, and before long fistfights were reported between the two factions.
The Hadi government resigned back in January, after the Houthis had taken over the capital city of Sanaa. The Saudis attacked Yemen in March, demanding the Hadi forces be reinstalled. After three months of war, however, there is no sign of this happening, and the Houthis still control most of the country.
The peace talks got off to a bad start when the Hadi faction demanded that the Houthis surrender every city in the country as a condition for direct talks. Very little has come of the peace talks, however, and the fight is probably going to be the most noteworthy thing that’s happened.