Abdel Malik al-Mekhlafi, the Foreign Ministry of Yemen’s pro-Saudi government, announced today that the ceasefire, which began last Tuesday, has been extended an additional week “on condition” that the rebel Houthis continue to respect it.
The announcement is something of a surprise, as the pro-Saudi forces never appear to have ceased firing in the first place, and have if anything pressed their offensive more aggressively since Tuesday, seizing multiple cities and even advancing into the Sanaa Province.
The ceasefire was established to help with last week’s Geneva peace talks, which similarly came and went without any deals, though the two sides are said to be anticipating another meeting at some point in January.
The UN expressed disappointment at the lack of deals in Geneva, and called for a ceasefire which is not “time-bound,” though given the enormous amount of fighting throughout the ceasefire, it’s a wonder that any timetable was attached to it at all, since it clearly isn’t getting in the way of the Saudi war in any real way.