2/6
The Saudi-led coalition has announced plans to finance and install four cranes in the ports of Aden, Mukalla, and Mokha as part of its unilateral humanitarian plan for Yemen, which has been criticized by several NGOs. The YPP pointed out the plan’s shortcomings in a recent blog post.
The UN released a humanitarian update, which reports that health facilities and water sanitation installations across Yemen need 4.3 million liters of fuel every month to function.
A CBS correspondent recently visited the front lines of the war at the invitation of Saudi Arabia.
The World Health Organization will use a $9.1 million grant from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund to distribute health services to 630,000 people in need around San’a and Hudaydah.
The Trump administration has ramped up attacks on AQAP and Islamic State in Yemen, conducting 18 airstrikes against the groups in Yemen in December and January. In 2017, the US conducted 130 total airstrikes in Yemen, which is six times the amount the Obama administration carried out in 2016. The administration’s increased drone strikes have predictably led to increased civilian casualties.
2/7
ODI released a working paper which shows the adverse effects of de-risking regulations on Yemen’s banking sector.
2/9
Four new cranes began to unload humanitarian aid and commercial resources in Hudaydah on Friday. The cranes will allow ships to be unloaded and resources to be distributed in half the time. Saudi Arabia prevented the installation of these cranes, which were paid for by the United States, for roughly two years as part of its deliberate and illegal blockade of Yemen’s ports.
According to a UNHCR spokesperson, a recent upsurge in violence across Yemen has resulted in the displacement of 85,000 people since December 1, 2017.
Oman will host a new round of talks between the Houthis and the GPC, facilitated by the new incoming UN Envoy to Yemen.
2/10
The Iranian Foreign Minister and a spokesman for the Houthis met in Tehran to discuss an Iranian peace proposal. The Houthi official travelled to Iran from Oman, where he had delivered a US citizen who had been held captive by the rebel group for months.
Government sources say that the Yemeni National Army is in control of “85% of Ta’iz” following recent gains there. Earlier this week, the Yemeni government took credit for the capture of Hays district in southern Hudaydah, though the campaign there has been led by UAE and Southern Resistance forces.
2/11
U.S. ambassador to Yemen Matthew Tueller has laid off 360 local embassy staff. This comes three years after Yemen's US embassy closed.
A US drone strike killed six suspected al-Qaeda members in al-Baydha, according to US Central Command.
2/12
Under the Congress’ new budget deal, USAID and the State Department are facing the biggest reduction in their funding since the 1990s.
The Yemeni government claims its army is making progress towards San‘a, taking control of mountains and high ground east of the city.
President Hadi appointed former finance minister Mohammed Mansour Zammam as governor of the Central Bank.
2/13
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human rights reported that there is an increasing rate of civilian casualties in Yemen, especially in the city of Ta’iz, where “the conflict is escalating and inescapable” for many of the city’s inhabitants.
2/14
Houthi officials say that the Saudi-led coalition launched three air strikes on civilian areas in Ta’iz, with scores of casualties.
2/15
Amnesty International reported that three people had been forcibly disappeared, ill-treated and given an unfair trial before being sentenced to death by a Houthi court, in violation of international humanitarian law.
2/16
Following the release of the UN Panel of Experts’ report that concluded that Iran had violated the arms embargo on Yemen, US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley declared that it was “time for the Security Council to act.” The report found that Tehran had failed to block supplies of ballistic missiles to the Houthis that were later fired at Saudi Arabia.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed the former British diplomat Martin Griffiths as the new UN envoy to Yemen, charged with charting a path to peace in the conflict.
A British proposal called for the UN Security Council to publicly praise Saudi Arabia and the UAE for providing aid to Yemen after they pledged $1 billion for humanitarian aid. The UK is the “pen holder” for Yemen in the Security Council. NGOs and other states are pressuring the UK to introduce a new resolution to restart the peace process, but this proposal is receiving pushback by those concerned by the Saudi-led coalition’s human rights track record during the conflict, especially the obstruction of humanitarian aid.
2/17
A US drone strike allegedly killed two suspected AQAP members in al-Bayda province. The strike occurred as UAE-backed Yemeni troops in southeastern Yemen launched a new offensive to “eradicate” al-Qaeda from the region.
2/18
27 people were reportedly killed in a UAE attack on al-Qaeda, after UAE-backed forces and the Yemeni National Army launched an offensive called “Al-Faisal” in Hadhramout.
2/19
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called on Iran to cease activities that could escalate the conflict in Yemen after the UN Panel of Experts’ report found that military equipment of Iranian origin had arrived in Yemen after the arms embargo.