Ministerial meeting of the Yemen Quartet to be held in London

A ministerial meeting of the Yemen Quartet will be held in London on Tuesday, British sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. The meeting will be attended by foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Britain, in the presence of UN Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the sources explained.

No extra information was given, yet Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who has not given any statement since his latest tour in the region, has specified these three major issues in his files: “cessation of hostilities, measures to build confidence and return to the negotiating table.”

Preliminary information, issued by Yemen Ports Authority, specifically by Hodeidah Port’s official website, revealed that no medical aid was received by the port between January and September. The document was retrieved from information issued by an institution under the control of the Houthis and was posted on the port's website.

This gap opens the door to the wide demands in the media since the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen announced, after Houthis targeted Riyadh with a ballistic missile, the closure of the ports temporarily, and put them “in a tight spot.”

On Sunday, a ship carrying 5,500 tons of flour arrived at Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeidah, a confirmation of what the coalition has stated earlier. Spokesman for the coalition Colonel Turki al-Maliki stressed that the ship "Rena" was given the first permit since the temporary suspension of some Yemeni ports, especially those under Houthi control.

The coalition has already partially blocked some Yemeni ports to review some inspection and investigation procedures, then reopened them all on November 24.

In the framework of relief and humanitarian aids in Yemen, UNICEF Resident Representative in Yemen Meritxell Relano told Asharq Al-Awsat that the UNICEF, other UN agencies and all the active humanitarian parties in Yemen are working in a very harsh environment as the ongoing conflict and its consequences represent the greatest challenge.

“The closure of air, sea and land ports in Yemen has increased the already shrinking area of humanitarian work,” Relano said, adding that ‘the additional security constraints imposed by various authorities on the movement of our field teams make the humanitarian response even more difficult.”

Therefore, the most vulnerable groups of the population, including millions of children in all Yemeni areas, who rely heavily on foreign aid, will be deprived of life-saving assistance and will be severely affected by fuel shortage, rising prices of commodities and lack of medicines and vaccines.

"All the land and sea ports under the control of the legitimate government have not been closed for more than two days," said Dr. Samer al-Jatili, spokesman for the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center. He added that all these ports were ready to receive aid and ships that were sent from Hodeidah ports to these areas to unload their cargoes.