The meeting will also host a vote to renew the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission for the Hudaydah Agreement, whose staff ensures the maintenance of the truce.

The meeting coincides with a critical moment in regional tensions following a recent attack by the Houthis, resulting in the death of one person in Tel Aviv, and Israeli strikes, killing at least eight people in Yemeni territory.

Rosemary DiCarlo, Under Secretary General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, said yesterday at a Security Council meeting that these events confirm the real danger of a devastating escalation in the Middle East, derived from the conflict in Gaza. They also put the Hudaydah Agreement and the 2002 truce at risk.

The fragile progress achieved with the truce negotiated by the UN then in Yemen “are overshadowed by the violent escalation in the region,” warned Dicarlo, who also noted the”increasing risks” in the Red Sea, where 42 attacks by Houthis against commercial ships in response to the Israeli offensive in Gaza have been verified.

Intense exchanges of fire continue along the Blue Line that separates Israel and Lebanon, causing death, displacement, and suffering along with environmental damage.

“A hasty move, a miscalculation could trigger a catastrophe that transcends borders and, frankly, imagination,” said the peacekeeping authority, who demanded an immediate and sustainable ceasefire and an unconditional release of the hostages to end the catastrophe in Gaza. “We need all parties to recommit to a political horizon that leads to a two-state solution,” she stressed.

DiCarlo confirmed the agency’s concerns following the detention of at least 11 humanitarian personnel in Yemen by the Houthis, which the UN describes as arbitrary detentions. “We urge the de facto authorities to release them all immediately and unconditionally, and we also request that they be treated with full respect for their human rights and be allowed to contact their families and legal representatives,” she demanded.

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