UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg regretted in a communiqué that no consensus has been reached to extend the end of hostilities, whose deadline expired on Sunday.
Grundberg urged all parties involved in the conflict to remain calm and “refrain from provocations or any action that could lead to an escalation of violence.”
The Government and the Houthi rebels blamed each other for the failure, while the fear of renewed fighting is growing.
That militia did not see the truce as an opportunity to alleviate the people’s suffering but as a political battle and an opportunity for blackmail, said Abdullah al-Alimi, a member of the Presidential Leadership Council.
Although significant progress has already been made in these six months, more time is needed to ensure that the population can begin to rebuild and recover their lives, institutions such as Oxfam, Yemen Center for Human Rights Studies, and Save the Children stated.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 23 of 31 million Yemenis need humanitarian assistance or protection but the UN agencies can only provide aid to 11.6 million each month.
The war in Yemen began in 2014 when Houthi rebels took up arms and occupied large swathes of the country, including Sana’a, its capital.
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