October 17-23: Three-day ceasefire begins and ends, airstrikes resume

Monday, October 17Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced that the coalition is prepared for a ceasefire: "We would like to see a ceasefire yesterday...Everybody wants a ceasefire in Yemen, nobody more so than the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the coalition members," Jubeir told reporters in London, adding that he was skeptical that a truce would hold.

Houthi publications show evidence of Spanish-made weapons being used by the rebels in Yemen, including a C90 grenade launcher manufactured by Instalaza and a BMR-600 military vehicle made by the Spanish company Enasa. El Pais reports that the weapons likely found their way into Houthi hands via Saudi Arabia, Spain’s biggest arms purchaser outside of Europe.

PBS NewsHour interviewed former US ambassador to Yemen Barbara Bodine in a segment on last week’s repeated targeting of the USS Mason in the Red Sea. Bodine says that the failed attack was “probably a direct retaliation for the Saudi bombing of the funeral hall,” but to the US, it was a “narrow act of self-defense”.

Tuesday, October 18 UN Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed announced a 72-hour ceasefire for Yemen starting Wednesday night. The ceasefire is subject to renewal and there are hopes that it will be the first step to resuming peace talks. 

There are reports that Egypt’s air force has withdrawn from the coalition in Yemen, but no official statement has been made confirming this.

Laura Kasinof writes for Slate, explaining why the widespread portrayal of Yemen’s crisis as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran is misleading.

“The war in Yemen is more of an ongoing domestic power struggle that has spiraled out of control and was exacerbated by the political upheaval of the Arab Spring. When outside countries became involved militarily, Yemen was wedged into the pressure cooker of Middle East geopolitics, making it even harder to reach a modicum of peace.”

Wednesday, October 19 A 72-hour ceasefire began just before midnight on Wednesday following a day of intensified airstrikes on army barracks in the capital by the Saudi coalition. The coalition says it will respect the ceasefire if the Houthi forces do as well, and will allow humanitarian aid to be delivered.

The UN says it is ready to deliver aid as soon as ceasefire begins, but humanitarian coordinator for Yemen Jamie McGoldrick is calling for an extension to the ceasefire, emphasizing that three days is not nearly enough time to deliver the necessary aid.

Deutsche Welle provides an outline of Yemen’s conflict and the various players while presenting possible outcomes for this week’s ceasefire. Vincent Durac, Middle East expert at the School of Politics & International Relations in Dublin told DW, “...there is a certain fatigue on both sides, and that could lead each to the conclusion that continued fighting will not create new advantages.”

The press secretary for Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs attempted to assure the public that there is no reason to believe that Canadian weapons are not being used in the commission of war crimes by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, allowing the country’s billions of dollars worth of arms sales with the kingdom to continue.

Britain’s minister for the Middle East Tobias Ellwood says that Saudi Arabia did not authorize the October 8 attack on a funeral hall in San’a, saying that an individual deliberately “breached” procedure and will now be disciplined.

Speaking to BBC’s Daily Politics about criticism of the UK’s relationship with the kingdom, Ellwood said that, "We do sell arms to Saudi Arabia, this is a legitimate war that's taking place, endorsed by the UN resolution 2216.”

Prime Minister Theresa May was questioned by a member of parliament about the UK’s role in Saudi war crimes, but she declined to give assurances that British-made weapons have not been used by the coalition to target civilians. May claimed that “the Saudi Arabian government have properly investigated these issues,” adding that “we press for proper investigations into what has happened on those incidents before we reach a decision or a conclusion on what has happened in relation to those incidents. We do have a very strong relationship with Saudi Arabia that is important for this country – it is important in terms of dealing with counter terrorism and a number of other issues.”

Thursday, October 20 On the first day of the ceasefire, Saudi Arabia claimed that the Houthis committed dozens of violations of cross-border shelling, with one attack killing two Saudi citizens. Meanwhile, Houthi officials charged the coalition with launching an airstrike that killed three civilians.

Al Jazeera reports that a total of at least 11 people were killed in the first day of the ceasefire, undermining the truce that was meant to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. Those killed include five pro-government fighters in Sa’dah and Hajjah provinces and three rebels who died in attacks in al-Hudaydah.

A number of American, Yemeni, and other officials told Reuters that Iran has stepped up its weapons shipments to the Houthis using smuggling routes in Oman. One US official said that they are bringing “anti-ship missiles, explosives... money and personnel.” None of the officials quoted, including an Iranian diplomat confirming the claims, were named.

Oman’s Foreign Minister Yousef bin Alwi said last week that there was "no truth" in the claim.

Meanwhile, spokesperson for the US Department of State John Kirby evaded a question about Oman allowing the smuggling of weapons, saying that “we’ve been very clear about our concerns with all of the partners in the region, including Oman, regarding the risks that these weapons used in these kinds of attacks pose to maritime traffic in the Red Sea, and also the risks that future incidents could inadvertently expand the conflict in Yemen.”

Australia’s foreign minister Julie Bishop has confirmed that Craig Bruce McAllister, a football coach working in San’a, has been kidnapped by an unnamed group. A video was released following his capture, showing McAllister saying he was kidnapped and that the group is demanding a ransom.

Friday, October 21 Accusations of ceasefire violations continue, with Saudi Arabia saying that the Houthis have fired rockets into Saudi territory and launched attacks inside Yemen, while the rebels claim that the coalition has struck a number of sites in the border region of Shad.

The UN sanctions monitors told the Security Council that the Saudi-led coalition violated international humanitarian law when it used a “double-tap” airstrike on a funeral gathering earlier this month, killing over 140 people.

"The second air strike, which occurred three to eight minutes after the first air strike, almost certainly resulted in more casualties to the already wounded and the first responders," the UN monitors said.

State department spokesperson John Kirby was repeatedly questioned at a press conference about the outcome of the US review of support for the Saudi-led coalition. Kirby did not reveal details of the the review, but claimed it is ongoing.

The US Department of Defense announced that military strikes in Yemen have killed eight alleged al-Qaeda operatives. The first strike, on October 6, killed two operatives, while another on October 16 killed six. Both strikes took place in Shabwah governorate in central Yemen.

Saturday, October 22 The UN is seeking an extension to the three day ceasefire, which was scheduled to end at midnight on Saturday. An extension of the truce seems unlikely amid accusations of violations by both sides. General Ahmed al-Asseri, spokesperson for the coalition and commander of the Saudi 4th Brigade on the border in Najran, told Reuters his forces were defending against an attack by the Houthis.

"The violation of the truce was not from our side. It was from the other side. We are continuing to thwart them," Asseri said. "In the last 48 hours there was an enormous push by the enemy against our territory."

The Liberal Democrat party revealed that the UK has been training the Saudi Air Force, adding another dimension of British support to the Saudi-led coalition’s campaign in Yemen. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the Royal Saudi Air Force was helped in order to “improve their targeting processes.”

Sunday, October 23 Coalition airstrikes and cross-border shelling by the Houthis resumed at dawn following the end of the ceasefire. Military sites in San’a in the Hafa camp to the east and in the Nahdein area in the south were targeted, along with radar positions in al-Hudaydah and in Ta’iz, residents reported.

UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen Jamie McGoldrick commented on the ceasefire, saying that the UN, the Red Cross and MSF have, for the first time, had three straight days to provide food and health support to San’a without the threat of airstrikes.

Robert Fisk writes about the Saudi coalition’s intentional targeting of Yemen’s farmland and the destruction of rural livelihood.

“...there is substantial evidence emerging that the Saudis and their “coalition” allies...are deliberately targeting Yemen’s tiny agricultural sector in a campaign which, if successful, would lead a post-war Yemeni nation not just into starvation but total reliance on food imports for survival.”

October 10-16: US launches attack on Houthi stations; Saudi says funeral strike was mistake

Monday, October 10Stopping short of accepting responsibility for last week’s bombing of a San’a funeral, the coalition says it “regrets” the strike and promises to release results of an investigation into the incident. It also agreed to British participation in the investigative process. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the bombing was “a heartless attack on civilians and an outrageous violation of international humanitarian law.”

UK Foreign Office minister for the Middle East Tobias Ellwood is due to hold talks with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel Jubair, exiled president Hadi, and the UN Special Envoy for Yemen.

Photos surfacing on social media show fragments of US-made explosives used in last week’s Saudi bombing of a funeral in San’a, which killed at least 140 people and injured hundreds more.

Emails and other records obtained by Reuters show that US officials were concerned that last year’s $1.3 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia would lead to the US being implicated in war crimes, as anonymous state department officials were skeptical that Saudi airstrikes would be capable of avoiding civilians. This article lays out the theoretical legal precedent for the US being charged with war crimes for its participation in Yemen’s conflict.

The US Navy commented on Sunday’s targeting of one of its vessels in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, saying that it is unsure if the missiles, fired from Houthi-held territory, were aimed intentionally at the USS Mason.

Tuesday, October 11 Following last week’s deadly funeral bombing, international organizations (and the New York Times’ editorial board) have been ramping up pressure on the US to halt its support for the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen. The White House stated that its support for the kingdom “is not a blank check”.

“In light of the attack over the weekend, with the scrutiny that that attack legitimately calls for, we are going to undertake additional reviews of aid and assistance that goes to Saudi Arabia,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said during a press conference.

Kirby, however, defended the coalition’s actions and internal investigations following a question about the difference between bombing civilians in Syria and in Yemen.

Amy Goodman interviewed Nasser Arrabyee to comment on the devastating funeral airstrike.

“The big criminal is Obama himself," Arrabyee says. "This is how Yemenis see to the situation, because every Yemeni believes that Saudi Arabia would not have done that at all, would not have done a war in Yemen, without the approval of Obama.”

The Pentagon hints at retaliation for Sunday’s missile attack on USS Mason launched from Houthi-held territory.

"Anybody who takes action, fires against U.S. Navy ships operating in international waters, does so at their own peril," Pentagon spokesperson Captain Jeff Davis told a news briefing.

Saba News Agency reported that at least six military and security personnel were killed in last week’s airstrike. They include three commanders of the Republican Guard, loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh: General Ali al-Jaefi and Brigadiers Abdulmalik Marzooq and Ali al-Hamzi. General Ahmed Manea, a member of the Supreme Security Committee, deputy security chief of Sanaa province, Ahmed al-Shalef, and head of the rebels' civil status authority, Brigadier Yehya al-Rowaishan, were also listed as killed in the attack.

Wednesday, October 12 Although some hope that last week’s airstrikes will put pressure on both sides to return to the negotiating table, April Longley Alley argues that mounting violence and the death of a number of prominent personalities will “empower hard-liners over peacemakers while undercutting capacity to implement any future accord.”

Yemen is in the running for an Oscar for the first time ever with the film I Am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced, which tells the real-life story of Nojoom who was married at the age of nine and struggled to obtain a divorce from her 30-year-old husband. The film was directed by Khadija al-Salami and filmed in Yemen.

The USS Mason was targeted a second time in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. The missiles, fired from Houthi-controlled territory, did not strike the vessel.

Thursday, October 13 In its first direct military action against the Houthis, the US Navy launched Tomahawk cruise missiles into Houthi-controlled territory, destroying three coastal radar sites.

The strikes took place after missiles from Houthi-controlled territory unsuccessfully targeted the USS Mason twice in the past week.

Pentagon spokesperson Peter Cook said, “These limited self-defense strikes were conducted to protect our personnel, our ships, and our freedom of navigation in this important maritime passageway...The United States will respond to any further threat to our ships and commercial traffic, as appropriate, and will continue to maintain our freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb, and elsewhere around the world.”

“We don’t seek a wider role in this conflict,” adding that the strikes were “not connected to the broader conflict in Yemen.” Cook also said, “Should we see a repeat, we will be prepared to take appropriate action again.”

The US strikes are seen by some Yemenis, and portrayed by Houthi leadership, as evidence that the US is continuing to wage a direct war on Yemen.

“The Americans have been patronizing and directing the war from the very beginning,” said Brig. Gen. Sharaf Luqman, a spokesman for the rebel alliance.

Chairman of the Houthi governing council Saleh al-Samad said in a statement that the strikes by the US vessel were “direct American intervention” and a final move of desperation. Samad added that the US has taken to “fabricating lies and pretexts in order to justify an extensive military operation along the coasts of al-Hudaydah, al-Mokha, and Bab al-Mandeb.”

Abdalmalik al-Houthi, the movement’s leader, also released a statement calling the US action a crime that is intended to pave the way for an operation targeting al-Hudaydah.

Also on Thursday, Iran deployed two vessels to the Red Sea “to protect the country’s trade vessels against piracy,” according to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency. Foreign Policy points out that piracy no longer exists in that area.

Speaking to the Washington Post, an anonymous US official said that future military assistance to Saudi Arabia may partly hinge on their willingness to embrace an “urgently needed” ceasefire.

“We are telling the Saudis that supporting their territorial integrity, their sovereignty, that’s one thing. But their campaign inside Yemen is something else, particularly if they’re not prepared to accept the unconditional, immediate cessation of hostilities that we’ve called for,” the official said.

Friday, October 14 President Obama tells Congress that Thursday’s strikes on Houthi targets were a “limited and proportionate” response to threats against US vessels in the Red Sea.

Meanwhile, senior administration officials held a briefing on the strikes, emphasizing that they were in self defense and “not meant to indicate support for coalition operations either in Yemen writ large or on the Red Sea. And we also made clear in public statements that we were not intending to be brought into the war in any fashion.”

One of the officials confirmed that the US is “certain” that the missiles were launched by Houthi forces, but the motives for the targeting of a US vessel is still unclear.

Former US ambassador to Yemen Stephen Seche speaks to NPR’s Morning Edition about the extent of America’s involvement in Yemen’s war and outlines what each party in the conflict wants.

“One of the key moments we face now is to not internationalize this conflict any further. It's already been deeply distorted by the 18 months of the protracted bombing by the Saudi coalition. The Iranians don't have a deep stake in Yemen. For them, it's mostly an opportunity to agitate and unnerve the Saudis.”

An explosion struck a Marib funeral for Major General Abdulrab al-Shadady, killing six and wounding 20. It is unclear who was responsible for the attack.

President of Oxfam America, Ray Offenheiser, offers a scathing critique of US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

“U.S. support for the coalition will continue even though the very need for a review casts a long shadow on anything that takes place until it is finalized.

“The lack of transparency from the get-go is an insult to the families of the massacred, who are still burying their dead, and for the families of those wounded in the attack desperately trying to seek assistance for their loved ones. At the very least, the U.S. should suspend its support for the campaign until the review is completed.”

The story of Abdullah Rashid, a Sa’dah resident in need of biweekly dialysis treatment and medication, highlights the daily challenges that Yemen’s patients and medical facilities face due to a lack of supplies and staff, and a constant threat of airstrikes.

Saturday, October 15 Two US citizens held by Houthi forces in Yemen were released and transported to Oman after mediation by sultanate authorities. The Department of State did not reveal their identities, but thanked Oman for “assistance in facilitating and supporting” their release.

The Saudi-led coalition partially accepted responsibility for last week’s strike that killed 140 funeral attendees, saying that the targeting was based on “bad information”. An inquiry was conducted by the coalition and concluded that the wrongful airstrike was due to “non-compliance with coalition rules of engagement" and "incorrect information", that was reportedly issued from "a party affiliated to the Yemeni presidency of the general chief of staff”. The investigation, welcomed by the US Department of State, determined that families of the victims should be compensated.

One of those victims, 25-year-old student Sadeq Abdullah Saleh al-Guraizea, was attending the funeral with his father after the closure of San’a airport forced him to remain in Yemen rather than return to his studies in Malaysia.

Read the Washington Post’s Sudarsan Raghavan’s take on the coalition’s investigation into the funeral attack here.

The USS Mason was targeted for a third time by cruise missiles from Houthi-controlled territory. The missiles again failed to strike the vessel.

Sunday, October 16 The US and UK called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire between warring parties in Yemen. US Secretary of State John Kerry said if both sides accepted the ceasefire then UN Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed would work through the details and the parties would move towards negotiations.

Houthi spokesperson Mohamed Abdelsalam responded to this proposal, saying that a necessary condition to any agreement is coalition forces ceasing all attacks and lifting the siege. Abdelsalam posted on his Twitter account that “A complete ceasefire by land, air, and sea, along with lifting the siege and opening up the no-fly zone is something that all Yemenis demand.”

September 26-October 2: UN investigators to be added to Yemen inquiry

Monday, September 26The UK is backing a draft UN resolution “to dispatch a mission...to monitor and report on the situation of human rights in Yemen.” British support for the international inquiry may indicate a shift in the country’s policy towards, and support of, the Saudi-led war, but rights groups say this proposal still falls short of a full, independent investigation that is needed in Yemen.

Yemeni forces killed suspected al-Qaeda chief Abdullah Hubaibat during a raid of his home in Loder, Abyan province, according to security officials. The alleged insurgents exchanged fire with security forces, killing one Yemeni soldier and two other al-Qaeda suspects.

Tuesday, September 27 The US state department says it is “deeply concerned” by reports of American citizens detained in Yemen by the Houthi-controlled National Security Bureau and is calling for their release. The statement follows last week’s report of an American teacher who was abducted from a school in San’a.

“Such detentions are unacceptable, put in jeopardy any Houthi efforts to establish that they are credible and responsible interlocutors, and invite serious questions about their commitment to seek a lasting peace for Yemen.”

To the dismay of human rights organizations, UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson has rejected calls for Britain to support an international inquiry into Saudi war crimes in Yemen. Johnson said that the UK is already "using a very, very wide variety of information sources about what is happening to acquaint ourselves with the details" of Yemen’s war.

Doctors Without Borders released two reports detailing coalition airstrikes on its medical facilities in Yemen. The two attacks resulted in the death of 20 people, most of them patients, and wounded 32 others. MSF says there was no legitimate reason for these attacks, one on a hospital in Hajjah governorate on August 15, 2016, and another at a clinic in Ta’iz on December 2, 2015.

Security Belt Forces in Aden have deported over 200 African immigrants, mostly Ethiopians, according to local officials and residents. A statement by the security forces justified the deportation saying it would prevent the migrants from joining the Houthi movement and al-Qaeda.

An analysis in Atlantic Council’s MENASource warns that Saudi Arabia’s aggressions in Yemen are placing unprecedented strain on US relations with the kingdom. To mend these rifts, the coalition must allow impartial investigations into alleged war crimes and hold those in command accountable for their actions. The recent Senate vote on a bill to block the transfer of $1.15 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, “demonstrates a rising frustration with the daily loss of civilian life, collateral damage that includes humanitarian efforts to mitigate the suffering caused by the conflict, and damage to essential infrastructure necessary for post-conflict reconstruction.”

Wednesday, September 28 Coalition spokesperson General Ahmed al-Asiri says that Saudi Arabia will not agree to a peace deal unless it requires the Houthis to disband their armed wing, saying that the kingdom would not "accept an armed militia at our back door." The announcement by the coalition is a rejection of last week’s truce proposed by the Houthis.

US Department of Defense’s Central Command reports two more drone strikes on al-Qaeda targets in Yemen. The first strike on September 20 in Marib killed two alleged operatives while another in Baydah on September 22 killed two others.

UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore says that the Yemeni commission currently tasked with reporting human rights abuses "lacks impartiality [and] does not abide by the basic norms of protection.”

The Yemeni National Commission of Inquiry reports to Yemen’s exiled government and the Saudi-led coalition, the group responsible for the majority of civilian deaths in Yemen’s war. The UN Human Rights Council decides Thursday whether to continue with the Saudi-backed investigation or set up an independent inquiry.

Thursday, September 29 Saudi Arabia and other coalition states have dodged an independent UN-sanctioned inquiry into human rights abuses in Yemen, which was backed by rights groups, but UN investigators will be tasked with documenting violations by the coalition.

Human Rights Watch had appealed to the UN Human Rights Council to launch an international, independent investigation into Saudi war crimes in Yemen. The newly-approved inquiry is seen as a compromise, but rights groups say it falls short of a much-needed independent investigation.

Two suspected al-Qaeda leaders were killed in another US drone strike in Baydah, according to local officials. The strike was the third in central Yemen in a week.

Monasser Saleh al-Quaiti, Hadi’s newly-appointed head of Yemen’s central bank, reports that he was “handed over a bank empty of money, a monetary cycle that was incapable of circulating and a database that was not existent.”

Al-Quaiti pledged to keep the bank independent and pay salaries, “despite the (insurgent) Houthis keeping the database.”

Friday, September 30 Suspected Islamic State militants gunned down senior intelligence official General Ali Awwad at his home in Aden’s Buraqa district. IS claimed responsibility for the attack on their Twitter account.

Saturday, October 1 A UAE military vessel was struck by Houthi forces in the Bab al-Mandeb strait, off of Yemen's southern coast. The coalition claimed to have “rescued civilians from a vessel targeted by Houthi militias...that was transferring medical aid to the city of Aden and evacuating wounded civilians for treatment." The UAE military said that none of its crew was hurt. Houthi forces claimed to have destroyed the vessel.

A New York Times’ piece helps to explain why some wars and humanitarian catastrophes, like Yemen’s, go unnoticed, while others receive worldwide attention. “There is no obvious good-versus-evil story to tell [in Yemen]: The country is being torn apart by a variety of warring factions on the ground and pummeled from the air by Saudi Arabia, an American ally. There is no camera-ready villain for Americans to root against.”

Sunday, October 2 The US state department released a statement condemning Saturday’s attack by Houthi forces on a UAE vessel.

“We take these threats seriously. The United States remains committed to upholding freedom of navigation through the Bab al-Mandeb. We call on the Houthi-Saleh groups to immediately cease attacks against all vessels. These provocative actions risk exacerbating the current conflict and narrow the prospects for a peaceful settlement.”

Saleh al-Sammad, head of the Houthi’s political council, appointed Abdel Aziz Saleh Abtour as “prime minister”, according to the Houthi-run Saba News website. Habtour is a former governor of Aden and a member of the political bureau of Saleh's General People's Congress.

September 19-25: Senate votes on Saudi arms deal, dozens of civilians die in airstrikes

Monday, September 19US officials have confirmed that the government sold white phosphorus to Saudi Arabia, which the coalition now appears to be using in Yemen. US regulations require that white phosphorus only be used for signalling and creating smoke screens, but the highly flammable material can also be used as a weapon against soldiers and civilians. It is still unclear how Saudi Arabia is using it in Yemen.

In addition to the white phosphorus munitions, Amnesty International confirmed that a US-made bomb was used in an August 15 Saudi airstrike on an MSF hospital, which killed 11 and injured 19.

“It is outrageous that states have continued to supply the Saudi Arabia-led coalition with weapons...despite stark evidence that those arms are being used to attack hospitals and other civilian objects and in other serious violations of international humanitarian law,” said Philip Luther, Research and Advocacy Director at Amnesty International.

Tuesday, September 20 Gunmen reportedly abducted an American teacher from an English language school in San’a. The gunmen were seen by faculty and students forcing the teacher into a car outside of the school.

Saudi coalition airstrikes targeted the headquarters of the National Security Bureau in San’a’s historic old city, damaging homes in the UNESCO heritage site and killing one civilian. The coalition also bombed the nearby defense ministry, staff and residents reported.

The governing council of the Houthis and Saleh released a statement criticizing last week’s relocation of Yemen’s central bank from San’a to Aden by the exiled government. The statement says that the move reflects “desperation and lack of direction” by the Saudi regime and its supporters in Riyadh.

"This act from a legal perspective is null and void...We call on the international community especially the international monetary and financial institutions to stand by their decision to reject that move."

In preparation for Wednesday’s Senate vote on a $1.15 billion US arms deal with Saudi Arabia, Rand Paul (R-KY) explains why the transfer should be blocked and why congressional approval should have been required prior to US participation in the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

Wednesday, September 21 The US Senate debated and voted on a resolution to block a $1.15 billion weapons deal with Saudi Arabia. The resolution, sponsored by senators Chris Murphy and Rand Paul, did not pass. It did, however, receive bipartisan support from over a quarter of the Senate, indicating a possible shift in US backing of Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen. Senator Murphy says he will continue to push for a reevaluation of US support for the kingdom.

There is a US imprint on every civilian death inside Yemen...We have given [assistance to the coalition] in substantial means and methods. We provide the bombs, we provide the refueling planes, we provide the intelligence. There is really no way that this bombing campaign could happen without US participation. The United States is at war in Yemen today.” -Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT)

Here is a list of the senators that voted in favor and opposition to the resolution. To watch the Senate debate, start this video at 2:08:00.

At least 25 people were killed and 70 others wounded late on Wednesday when a Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit the residential al-Hunoud area of al-Hudaydah. The raid reportedly targeted a presidential palace used by Houthi rebels, but also destroyed neighboring homes.

The UK announced that it will increase humanitarian aid to Yemen by £37 million this year, bringing the total amount of aid to £100 million. The announcement comes amidst intense criticism of the British government for its billions of pounds worth of weapons deals with Saudi Arabia since the war in Yemen began in 2015. Overwhelming evidence from human rights organizations shows that British and American weapons are being used in the commission of humanitarian crimes by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. For a brief and informative history of UK-Saudi relations, read this op-ed published in Middle East Monitor this week.

Thursday, September 22 Ashwaq Muharram, a doctor working in al-Hudaydah, is now working independently to provide food and medicine to those suffering from famine and illness in one of Yemen’s most impoverished areas. Muharram says she has never seen things so bad. “The rich are now the middle class, the middle class are now the poor, and the poor are now starving.”

Friday, September 23 Foreign ministers of Yemen’s ministerial quartet (US, UK, UAE, and Saudi Arabia) proposed a 72-hour ceasefire during a UN General Assembly meeting in New York in the hopes that a lull in fighting could bring about another round of peace talks.

An article by Peter Salisbury and Samuel Oakford in the Atlantic discusses contradictions and failures in the Obama administration’s policy towards Saudi Arabia. Despite a complete lack of strategic benefit from the war in Yemen, the United States continues to support and enable Saudi offenses.

The UN reports that at least 329 civilians have been killed and 426 injured in Yemen since August, when peace talks collapsed along with an unstable ceasefire. In September alone, 149 civilians have been killed. Nine of those deaths were attributed to pro-Houthi forces and 126 to the Saudi-led coalition.

Yemen’s president-in-exile Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi told the UN that the coalition “shall extract Yemen from the claws of Iran, we shall raise the Yemeni flag over every foot of our precious Yemeni soil and we will lay the foundation for a just federal state.”

Hadi also said that the operations undertaken by the (Houthi) militias, especially in Ta’iz, such as kidnappings, forced disappearances, and the implementation of blockades, are terrorist actions that are no different from those committed by the Islamic State group or al-Qaeda. His full speech can be seen here.

Saturday, September 24 The UK has refused to back an international inquiry into Saudi war crimes proposed by the Netherlands, causing the inquiry to be replaced with a weaker version that human rights organizations deem insufficient to establish facts related to violations in Yemen.

Yemen’s government-in-exile plans to issue a complaint to the UN of Iran’s transfer of weapons to the Houthis.

"It is impossible to hide that weapons-smuggling is still taking place from Iran. Some of these weapons have been found on the Saudi-Yemeni border and they are Iranian weapons," Yemen’s foreign minister Abdel Malek al-Mekhlafi said.

Late night coalition airstrikes in Ibb killed nine civilians and wounded nine others, according to the local hospital officials. Locals say the nine killed include three children and their parents.

An apparent US drone strike in Ma’rib killed five suspected members of al-Qaeda. A security official claims those killed were local commander Abu Khaled al-Sanaani and four of his guards.

Sunday, September 25 Saleh al-Samad, the chief of the Houthi/Saleh political council in Yemen, proposed a truce where Houthi forces would halt attacks on Saudi Arabia if Saudi forces stopped airstrikes and lifted its blockade in Yemen.

"(In exchange for) stopping the aggression against our country by land, sea and air, stopping the air strikes and lifting the siege imposed on our country, in return (we will) stop combat operations on the border,” said al-Samad.

September 5-11: Increased fighting before Eid, senators push ahead with joint resolution

Monday, September 5Houthi forces raided the San’a office of Al-Saeedah TV channel on September 4th, abducting its director, Mukhdar al-Qadasi. Some outlets are reporting that al-Qadasi was transported to a police station in al-Hasbah area of northern San’a. Although Al-Saeedah is primarily an entertainment channel, it occasionally includes news reports and political programs. The raiding of Al-Saeedah comes amidst a wider crackdown on journalists and news outlets in Yemen.

During a bilateral meeting at a G20 summit in Hangzhou, China, Prime Minister Theresa May voiced her concerns to Saudi leaders about civilian casualties in Yemen. Meanwhile, international humanitarian organizations are putting pressure on the UK to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Official government figures show that the UK is the second largest arms dealer in the world, with many of the sales contributing to deadly conflicts in the Middle East. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, however, defended the weapons deals, saying that violations of humanitarian law by Saudi Arabia have not been proven.

Following a visit to Baghdad by a Houthi delegation last Monday, Yemen’s exiled government requested a clarification of Iraq’s position on the governing council recently formed by the Houthis and Saleh’s GPC. Houthi spokesman Mohamed Abdel Salam said that Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi and Foreign Minister Ibrahim Jaafari have recognised the governing council, while the Yemeni government said it considers the visit “a violation of UN Security Council resolution 2216.” 

Prosecutors are alleging that Brazilian weapons manufacturer, Forjas Taurus, sold guns to a Yemeni arms trafficker who funnelled them into the ongoing war, in violation of international sanctions. Two former executives of the company were charged in May with shipping thousands of handguns to smuggler Fares Mohammed Hassan Mana'a in 2013. The available details of the case are outlined in a report by Reuters.

Aden’s oil refinery resumed operations on Sunday after being shut for more than a year. Although the refinery is operating at half of its previous capacity, it will now be able to supply power stations in Aden, a city hit with severe power cuts due to the war.

Tuesday, September 6 US Central Command released a statement on three separate strikes carried out in Shabwa province between August 24th and September 4th. The statement claims that 13 members of al-Qaeda were killed and one injured in these strikes.

In an exclusive interview with the Telegraph, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir called for continued British support for the war in Yemen as a means to protect the West from terror attacks launched by AQAP. The minister defended the war as “legitimate”, saying that “many of the claims being made about civilian casualties are not accurate.” Al-Jubeir added that post-Brexit Britain will see the forging of new trade relations with Saudi Arabia, "including more than $2 trillion worth of investment opportunities."

More than 60 lawmakers in the US House are fighting to delay the sale of $1.15 billion worth of weapons and military equipment to Saudi Arabia. Due to numerous accusations of war crimes committed by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, the bipartisan group is asking that the White House withdraw its request for congressional approval of the sale until Congress has an opportunity to debate the arms transfer.

Wednesday, September 7 Yemen’s Foreign Minister Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi told the German Council on Foreign Relations that the international community needs to step up its support of the campaign against the Houthis. "Above all, we need more pressure on the militias so that they take part in the peace process,” al-Mekhlafi added.

The UK Committees on Arms Export Controls say that it is highly likely that British-made weapons have been used to violate international humanitarian law in Yemen. Members of Parliament are calling on the government to halt weapons sales to Saudi Arabia until violations have been investigated.

The Guardian compiled a list of six major coalition airstrikes in Yemen since January. These strikes resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians and include attacks on an MSF hospital, a school, a food factory, and a crowded market.

National Counterterrorism Center chief Nick Rasmussen said at a security symposium in D.C. that the United States is struggling to contain al-Qaeda in Yemen. As reported by the Washington Times, “the biggest hurdle facing the American intelligence officials is their lack of visibility into the war-torn nation.” Rasmussen’s comments come after Tuesday’s report by CentCom that claims that US strikes in Yemen “continue to diminish AQAP's presence in the region.”

Thursday, September 8 US Senators Chris Murphy, Al Franken, Rand Paul, and Mike Lee introduced a joint resolution of disapproval to block the sale of $1.15 billion worth of military equipment to Saudi Arabia.

“In Yemen, a Saudi coalition of fighters is unjustly killing civilians while at the same time not doing enough to address terrorism. This is dangerous for the Middle East, for our other allies, and for our nation, which is why I’m helping to introduce this bipartisan resolution,” said Franken (D-Minn.).

The introduction of the joint resolution allows Senators Paul, Murphy, Franken, and Lee, along with other members of Congress, to force a vote on blocking the Saudi arms sale.

Robert Fisk writes for the Independent about Saudi Arabia’s urgent, yet underreported, financial crisis that has been preventing the government from paying construction companies and foreign workers. As Fisk reports, the downfall of the Saudi economy is frequently attributed to the sharp drop in oil prices, but those wishing to understand the shift in the kingdom’s economy should also look to the “wasteful and hopeless war in Yemen.”

Three former soldiers involved in a US drone program have decided to support Yemeni man Faisal bin Ali Jaber in his lawsuit against President Obama and other US officials. Jaber filed the suit to find out the truth behind the covert 2012 US drone strike that killed his nephew and brother-in-law. Following the strike, Jaber said he was handed a plastic bag by Yemeni government officials with $100,000 in freshly minted $100 bills.

“Jaber, who appealed the lower court ruling on Aug. 22, said in an interview he has not spent the $100,000 and does not want more money from the U.S. government. He wants an apology.”

A Saudi airstrike on a residential building in Amran city north of San’a killed nine civilians, including four children. “Residents said the building was struck three times while an adjacent but empty school was hit twice. No one was hurt in the school which was empty as the school year has yet to start.”

The United Nations Security Council is urging parties to Yemen’s conflict to recommit to a cessation of hostilities and to immediately resume talks “without preconditions and in good faith with the UN Special Envoy.”

Human Rights Watch is calling on the Houthis and forces allied with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh to immediately cease using land mines, which have killed at least 18 people in Ta’iz in one year alone.

“In June, Dr. Suhail al-Dabhani, general director at Taizz’s al-Rawda Hospital, told HRW that since late April, the hospital had treated 50 people – 30 men, 8 women, and 12 children – who had one or more limbs amputated and who he believed had been wounded by landmines.”

Friday, September 9 Among the millions of people displaced from Syria, thousands fled to Yemen in search of relative stability and a more secure economy. Now those refugees are being subjected to a second war in their new home.

“Many Syrians in Yemen have become destitute and hope to seek refuge in Europe, but most will stay in Yemen - and without any aid to speak of.”

“We will never return and see anything beautiful; our situation is like our Yemeni brothers, because our country is at war and here there is also war. War doesn't forgive." one Syrian refugee in Yemen told Deutsche Welle.

Crystal van Leeuwen, an MSF nurse who recently returned from seven months in Yemen, writes about the state of healthcare in the country.

“Healthcare in Yemen has suffered, whether it’s preventative healthcare such as vaccination programs for children, primary and secondary healthcare, or tertiary care such as treatment for cancer or chronic diseases. The healthcare infrastructure itself has also been heavily affected by the war. Throughout Yemen, hospitals and medical centres are not being afforded the protection they have under international humanitarian law. Many hospitals and health centres have been damaged or destroyed by airstrikes, shelling or shooting.”

Sunday, September 11 Coalition warplanes targeted workers drilling for water in the Arhab area north of San’a, killing a total of 21 civilians in two separate airstrikes. The first airstrike killed four workers. When locals rushed to the scene to help the victims, the warplanes struck again, killing over 11. Residents say the coalition may have mistook the drilling machine for a rocket launcher, causing them to target the site. Coalition spokesman General Ahmed al-Asseri said "all operations in the area were targeting Houthi positions and members."

Ten soldiers were killed and 14 others wounded when a suicide bomber drove a car into an army position near a police station in Abyan province. The attack is suspected to have been carried out by al-Qaeda.

Mareb Press reports that the Saudi-led coalition has prevented the Houthi delegation from returning to San’a for the fourth time since peace talks ended in Kuwait a month ago. The delegation remains stuck in Oman and some fear that this move by the coalition will discourage Houthi participation in future peace talks.

August 29-September 4: Death toll updated to 10,000; Houthi delegation visits Iraq

Monday, August 29A car bomb struck a military facility in Aden’s Mansourah district, killing at least 60 people and injuring dozens more. The attack, claimed by the Islamic State group, targeted conscripts of the Popular Resistance.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen Jamie McGoldrick released a statement expressing his concern for the devastating impact the recent surge in fighting is having on Yemeni civilians. McGoldrick reports that seven people were confirmed dead following Friday’s Saudi airstrike on a market in Baqim in Sa’dah province, while attacks from Yemen across the Saudi border have “caused an unconfirmed number of civilian casualties.”

“In addition to fighting and insecurity, the continued closure of Sana’a airport to commercial flights is having serious implications for patients seeking urgent medical treatment abroad, given the inability of the national health system to treat all medical cases...Initial statistics from the national airline indicate that thousands of people cannot leave while many others remain stranded outside of Yemen…”

A Houthi delegation arrived in Baghdad to meet with Iraq’s foreign minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. The purpose of the delegation’s visit was to push for the recognition of their recently-formed governing council while also updating al-Jaafari on the latest developments in Yemen’s conflict and peace talks.

Tuesday, August 30 UN Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick told a news conference in San’a that 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen since the war began 18 months ago. The updated death toll, which is significantly higher than the 6,000 figure that is frequently cited, is based on official information from medical facilities in Yemen. McGoldrick provided no breakdown of the number of civilian deaths, which has previously been reported at 3,800.

Amnesty International is condemning Obama’s unprecedented arms deals with Middle Eastern governments that routinely violate humanitarian law. US weapons sales to Saudi Arabia since Obama took office in 2009 amount to $110 billion.

“One of the unspoken legacies of the Obama administration is the extraordinary uptake in the amount of U.S. weapons and military aid that are provided to major U.S. allies like Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt that have terrible records when it comes to human rights,” Sunjeev Bery, advocacy director for Middle East and North Africa issues at Amnesty International USA, told Salon.

Wednesday, August 31 An imam living in Sa’dah was killed along with 16 members of his extended family during a Saudi airstrike on his home, according to a Reuters witness, a medic, and a resident.

“‘The air raid happened in the morning and because the house was made of mud, it took us until noon to be able to dig the bodies out,’ said Nayef, a resident who helped remove the rubble to recover the bodies.”

The Saudi military spokesman says that the coalition was checking if the report is true, and will conduct an investigation if the incident is verified.

UN Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that a recent military escalation following the collapse of the peace talks is fueling the spread of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group in the country. The envoy says that a renewed cessation of hostilities is needed to return to negotiations and end the war.

The last US manufacturer of cluster munitions, Textron, announced that it has ceased production of the widely-banned weapon, following a White House order last May to stop the shipment of CBU-105 (cluster bombs)  to Saudi Arabia. The blocking of the sale was at least partly due to pressure from human rights groups that have documented Yemen’s civilian casualties caused by cluster bombs.

Textron spokesman Matthew Colpitts told Foreign Policy that the decision to end production was “due to the current regulatory challenges and in light of reduced product orders.” The company also said that, “The current political environment has made it difficult to obtain...approvals."

Thursday, September 1 The seventh annual Cluster Munition Monitor report outlines the usage of cluster bombs in Yemen (p. 24 of report), Syria, and other conflict zones.

“HRW and Amnesty International have documented evidence of at least 19 cluster munition attacks in the conflict involving the use of seven types of air-delivered and ground-launched cluster munitions produced in three countries...None of the states participating in the Saudi Arabia-led coalition—Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Pakistan, Qatar, Sudan, UAE—are party to the Convention (banning) Cluster Munitions.”

Friday, September 2 In an interview with a Houthi-run quarterly magazine, Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, the leader of the rebel group, accused the United States of providing logistical support and political cover for Saudi-led air strikes on Yemen.

Al-Houthi also told the Houthi-run magazine that his group was open to a peaceful solution.

"The hurdle facing negotiations and dialogue is that the other party wants to achieve through the talks what it wanted to achieve through war, not understanding that the path of dialogue and peace is different to the path of war," he said.

Sunday, September 4 Saudi Arabia’s civil defense agency says that cross-border shelling from Yemen killed a woman and injured two other civilians. Attacks from Yemen on Saudi Arabia’s border, along with airstrikes in Yemen carried out by the Saudi-led coalition, have intensified since peace talks were suspended in early August.

August 22-28: Kerry announces new plan for peace, exiled government targets CBY

Monday, August 22A joint report by UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration says that over 3,154,000 Yemenis have been displaced across the country as a result of the war in Yemen. The news release reports that due to the escalating conflict and worsening humanitarian conditions, displacement across the country has seen an increase of about seven percent since April, with 152,009 individuals fleeing from violence during this period.

The Control Arms Coalition said that Britain, the US, and France are in violation of the 2014 Arms Trade Treaty, which bans the export of weapons that disproportionately result in the death of civilians and the commission of other war crimes.

"It is extremely concerning that many transfers are still continuing, in particular the governments of the United States, the UK and France have authorized and are continuing to export very large quantities of weapons, including explosive weapons, bombs which are being used daily against civilians in Yemen," said Anna MacDonald, director of the Control Arms Coalition.

The Guardian tells the stories of victims of recent Saudi airstrikes and outlines the implications that these strikes have for Yemen’s conflict. San’a-based political analyst Hisham Al-Omeisy said airstrikes in recent weeks had become more indiscriminate. He added that while the Houthis were “guilty of hijacking and mismanaging the state”, it was the Saudi-led coalition that had “held the whole nation hostage to the current conflict and [had] been collectively and indiscriminately punishing.”

Congressman Ted Lieu and other American lawmakers have been pushing the Obama administration to suspend its support of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen due to the heavy civilian death toll. Speaking to The Intercept, Lieu explained his opposition to US involvement in the war: “You can’t kill children, newlyweds, doctors and patients — those are exempt targets under the law of war, and the coalition has been repeatedly striking civilians...So it is very disturbing to me. It is even worse that the U.S. is aiding this coalition.”

Tuesday, August 23 Deputy chief executive of Oxfam GB, Penny Lawrence, says that the UK government has switched from being an “enthusiastic backer” of the Arms Trade Treaty to being “one of the most significant violators.” In the past year, the UK licensed 3.3 billion pounds worth of arms to Saudi Arabia while the Saudi-led coalition has continued to bomb civilian targets.

“UK arms and military support are fuelling a brutal war in Yemen, harming the very people the Arms Trade Treaty is designed to protect. Schools, hospitals and homes have been bombed in contravention of the rules of war,” says Lawrence.

ABC show Foreign Correspondent aired an episode on the war in Yemen, and specifically the impact it has on Yemen’s children. Reporter Sophie McNeill visits Yemen’s hospitals to hear from the patients, their families, and the staff. The show includes an interview with a man who lost 18 members of his family, including his five-year-old daughter, in a coalition airstrike on a wedding party.

Wednesday, August 24 Yemen’s government-in-exile is now targeting the country’s central bank, cutting it off from the rest of the world as a way to put economic pressure on the Houthis. This move inevitably puts more pressure on Yemeni citizens as well, blocking their access to desperately-needed food imports. Yemen’s central bank is considered one of the country’s last stable institutions, and has done a remarkable job of managing Yemen’s economy and currency, given the circumstances.

According to Farea al-Muslimi, an analyst with the Middle East Institute in Washington DC, action against the central bank would cut "the only artery" holding the country together.

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Saudi Arabia to hold talks with the kingdom's officials and other Gulf leaders on the situation in Yemen and the stalled peace process.

Thursday, August 25 Kerry said during a press conference in Jeddah that there is a new plan to end the war in Yemen, which includes Houthis in a unity government in exchange for their transferring of arms to a third party. Kerry called the approach “fair and sensible”. He pledged $189 million of new US aid and criticized the international community’s response to the crisis in Yemen. 

Full press conference in Arabic here.

UN human rights chief, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, is calling for an independent international investigation into a series of violations in Yemen. Hussein said in a statement today that Yemenis are suffering "unbearably [without] any form of accountability and justice, while those responsible for the violations and abuses against them enjoy impunity". However, the UN declined to accuse either side of war crimes, saying that it was for a national or international court to decide.

A spokesperson for the Red Cross based in Yemen says that the death toll of the 17-month-long war is so extensive that the organization has began to donate morgues.

“The hospitals were not able to cope,” said spokesperson Rima Kamal. “You could have more than 20 dead people brought into one hospital on one single day. The morgue capacity at a regular hospital is not equipped to handle this influx of dead bodies.”

Friday, August 26 CNN featured an important piece by Peter Salisbury on Kerry’s visit and press conference in Jeddah. The secretary of state failed to address in any detail recent Saudi airstrikes on an MSF hospital, a school, and a food factory, all of which incurred civilian casualties.

“The Houthis and Saleh, it needs to be repeated, are almost certainly committing war crimes in Yemen, according to human rights groups. With this in mind the Saudis, Yemenis opposed to the coup, and indeed Western officials, find it difficult to understand why so much attention is being paid to the Saudis' worst excesses. They aren't the bad guys, the argument goes. But this attitude contains a serious moral hazard: why should rogue states and rebel groups like the Houthis feel accountable for their actions if an ally of two of the UN's most influential member states is not also held to account for its actions or at least reined in?”

Saba news agency reported that 11 civilians were killed in Saudi airstrikes in Sa'dah. The outlet said that two houses in the district of Baqam were destroyed in an overnight raid. Rescue efforts were delayed due to fears of subsequent strikes as fighter jets continued to circle the area.

In response to comments by Secretary of State John Kerry, who said he was "deeply troubled" by images of Iranian-supplied missiles positioned along the Saudi-Yemen border by the Houthis, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said such statements were "baseless accusations."

Saturday, August 27

Yemen's government in exile said it welcomed a plan agreed upon by Gulf, US, and UN officials to restart peace talks with the goal of forming a unity government. Unlike the previous proposed deal that would have required the Houthis to hand in their weapons and withdraw from seized territory prior to a political settlement, Kerry suggested the prospective deal could move ahead in parallel.

Sunday, August 28 Following the exiled government's response to a possible peace deal to end Yemen's war, the Houthis also released a statement saying they are prepared to restart negotiations provided that the Saudi-led coalition stops airstrikes and lifts its blockade of Houthi-held territories.

August 15-21: Coalition airstrikes continue, tens of thousands protest in San'a

Monday, August 15A Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a MSF hospital in Hajja province killed at least 11 people and wounded 19. A statement by MSF says that this was the fourth facility operated by the organization that was targeted in less than 12 months. The spokesperson for the coalition has not yet responded to a request for a comment as to why the hospital was targeted. The attack comes following a Saturday coalition airstrike on a school that killed ten children.

Fifteen detainees at Guantanamo, 12 Yemenis and three Afghan men ages 36-66, were released last weekend and sent to the UAE. Most of them were brought to the prison when they were in their early 20’s, over 12 years ago, without ever being convicted of a crime. This is the single largest transfer under the Obama administration and the prison’s population could be reduced to less than 50 prisoners by the end of the summer.

CNN interviewed Hakim Almasmari, the editor-in-chief of Yemen Post, and Hisham al-Omeisy, a Yemeni journalist and political analyst, to learn more about the recent Saudi bombings and the daily struggles that Yemeni civilians are facing because of the war.

“At least 22 million people, civilians, sleep hungry in Yemen right now,” says Almasmari, “Millions of jobs lost and infrastructure destroyed. Food is scarce in Yemen and poverty is reaching unbelievable levels.”

Tuesday, August 16 WNYC’s The Takeaway talks with journalist Iona Craig about the war in Yemen, American and British arms sales to Saudi Arabia, and the obstacles preventing essential food and medical aid from reaching Yemeni civilians.

Senior Humanitarian Policy Advisor at Oxfam America, Scott Paul, recently traveled to Yemen and shares his thoughts on what Yemen needs from local actors and the international community.

Turkish outlet Anadolu Agency reports that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has stated that he rejects the “coup’ in Yemen and reiterated his support for the “legitimacy” of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi while emphasizing that Egypt would remain standing “side by side with the Gulf States and the other Arab countries in the Arab Coalition to support legitimacy in Yemen until the coalition has achieved all of its goals.” 

Wednesday, August 17 The New York Times editorial board published a piece condemning US support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, urging governments to put pressure on the coalition to stop targeting civilians and negotiate a peace deal.

“Mr. Obama has...supplied the coalition such indispensable assistance as intelligence, in-flight refueling of aircraft and help in identifying appropriate targets. Experts say the coalition would be grounded if Washington withheld its support. Instead, the State Department last week approved the potential sale of $1.15 billion more in tanks and other equipment to Saudi Arabia to replace items destroyed in the war. Congress has the power to block this sale.”

Amnesty International is calling on Houthi authorities to release 27 members of the Baha’i religion who are being detained without charge in San’a.

“The arbitrary arrests of Bahá’í people for doing nothing more than attending a peaceful community event is completely unjustifiable. It is just the latest example of authorities’ persecution of minority faiths,” said Magdalena Mughrabi, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme.

A confidential report by the World Bank, the United Nations, Islamic Development Bank, and the European Union claims that damages to Yemen’s infrastructure and economy caused by the war amount to $14 billion.

"The conflict has so far resulted in damage costs (still partial and incomplete) of almost $7 billion and economic losses (in nominal terms) of over $7.3 billion in relation to production and service delivery."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for the third time this week for the immediate cessation of all hostilities and for the Yemeni parties to return to the recently-ended direct talks.

“Civilians, including children, are paying the heaviest price in the ongoing conflict, as civilian infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals, continue to be hit,” said a statement issued by Ban’s spokesperson.

Thursday, August 18 Doctors Without Borders has been forced to evacuate from six hospitals in Sa’dah and Hajjah provinces after the organization determined that the facilities are unsafe for patients and staff. Malak Shaher, MSF’s communications manager in Yemen, says that the indiscriminate Saudi airstrikes and the coalition’s unwillingness to provide assurances prevent continued operations at the hospitals.

Friday, August 19 The Saudi-led coalition expressed “deep regret” over MSF’s decision on Thursday to evacuate from north Yemen hospitals due to indiscriminate bombings by the coalition.

“The coalition said it was committed to respecting international humanitarian law in all its operations in Yemen and had set up an independent team to investigate incidents in which civilians were killed.”

US officials told Reuters that American military personnel assisting the Saudi-led coalition were withdrawn from Yemen in June. The officials claim that this withdrawal is unrelated to increased scrutiny of American participation in coalition bombings, and there is the possibility that staff will return to Yemen “if the strikes intensify.”

“‘The shift does not diminish U.S. commitment to supporting Saudi-led military operations. The JCPC forward team that was in Saudi Arabia is now in Bahrain,’ said Chris Sherwood, a Pentagon spokesman, who added that U.S. aerial tankers continue to refuel Saudi aircraft.”

In an interview with Yemen Today, the Russian Chargé d’Affaires in San’a, Oleg Dremov, endorsed the ruling council recently-formed by Saleh and the Houthis. Despite this statement, Dremov later reiterated his support for Hadi’s government.  

Saturday, August 20 Tens of thousands of Yemenis gathered in San’a’s Sab’aeen Square to protest Saudi-led coalition airstrikes and to support a governing council recently formed by Saleh’s GPC and the Houthis.

“As the rally was underway, three air strikes targeted the presidential compound located 600 meters away from the square without causing casualties," residents told Reuters.

Journalists Iona Craig and Hisham al-Omeisy spoke with the BBC on Saturday’s mass demonstrations in San’a to protest continued coalition airstrikes and to support the Houthi and Saleh governing coalition.

An anonymous Houthi source told Turkish outlet Anadolu Agency that the UN Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed traveled to Muscat, Oman to meet with Houthi representatives to discuss the next round of peace talks.

CNN interviewed Senator Chris Murphy about the US and the UK’s complicity in Saudi war crimes in Yemen, and the efforts that are being made to block weapons deals and ban cluster bombs. Although the title states that the US is distancing itself from the coalition in Yemen, it is not clear if that is the case, and it is likely that the US will continue to supply intelligence, and certainly weapons, to Saudi Arabia and its allies.

Sunday, August 21 Speaking to Russia 24, Saleh said the newly-formed governing council (consisting of the GPC and the Houthis) would be open to granting Russia access to Yemen’s military bases for the purposes of fighting terrorism.

"In the fight against terrorism we reach out and offer all facilities. Our airports, our ports... We are ready to provide this to the Russian Federation," said Saleh on Sunday.

August 8-14: Dozens of civilians killed in renewed Saudi airstrikes

Monday, August 8The end of the Kuwait talks on Saturday lead to a collapse of Yemen's already unstable ceasefire. Saudi-led coalition warplanes bombed Nehm near San’a over the weekend, killing 18 civilians, in an attack that reportedly aimed to drive Houthi forces out of the capital.

“They targeted only civilians,” a pharmacist who was witness to the attacks said. “There wasn’t a single gunman or military vehicle around.”

The Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies released its July review of UN efforts to resolve Yemen’s conflict. According to the report, the unilateral formation of a governing council by the Houthis and Saleh has undermined the peace process and the premature conclusion of the Kuwait talks will likely lead to increased fighting.

The review also states that the UN Security Council has “not shown the degree of political will and investment toward the crisis in Yemen commensurate with finding a solution.” Furthermore, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has to date "received only 27% of the US$1.8 billion it says it needs to implement its 2016 humanitarian crisis response plan in Yemen. "

Tuesday, August 9 At least 13 people were killed during a coalition airstrike on a chips factory in San'a. Residents say the factory was inside of an army maintenance camp that has repeatedly been hit by airstrikes. The majority of the deaths were women working at the factory.

The US has approved the sale to Saudi Arabia of 153 tanks worth $1.2 billion. Twenty of these tanks are replacements for the hundreds reportedly destroyed in battle in Yemen.

Wednesday, August 10 Spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, General Ahmed al-Asiri, defended Tuesday’s airstrike on a food factory in the capital, claiming that the coalition is “not striking Sanaa, we are providing air support for the loyal army to the government in Nehm and we strike the positions of the forces belonging to Ali Abdullah Saleh and to the militia's outer ring of the capital Sanaa.”

AP reported that there are no visible Houthi camps in the vicinity of the factory and their nearest post is a mile away, but other outlets report that the factory was located within an army maintenance camp.

Thursday, August 11 Khalid Abdullah, a 65-year-old Red Crescent volunteer, was shot and killed in Ta’iz where he was working to set up a food distribution center. Where the shot came from or whether it was deliberate is not known. Khalid is the tenth Yemen Red Crescent Society volunteer to be killed in the country since the war started in March 2015.

Middle East Monitor looks back on the Kuwait negotiations and explains some of the factors that led to their collapse. These include the absence of Yemen’s local actors and a disregard for the country’s socio-political environment, as well as a financial crisis and an unwillingness by both sides to come to an agreement.

Diana Alghoul writes, “It was obvious that the delegates were not there to find a solution for lasting peace, but to hold on to the most power. The fact that they were present without a clear motivation to work with each other and end the violence meant that they were still working against each other, but on a diplomatic front in the full view of the international community.”

The main bridge leading from the port city of al-Hudaydah to San’a was destroyed by a Saudi-led coalition airstrike. The bridge was the supply route for 90% of the World Food Programme’s aid from al-Hudaydah to the capital and its destruction will likely deprive many civilians of critical food supplies.

Friday, August 12 The UN human rights office says that civilian deaths in Yemen are “steadily mounting,” with more than 200 killed and 500 wounded in the previous four months, including 50 in just one week.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, released a statement condemning the intensification of violence. “Local media reports indicate that children and women are being killed and maimed, homes destroyed, and that a food factory and a market have been damaged or destroyed by both ground fighting and airstrikes, particularly in Sana’a city and the Governorates of Sana’a, Sa’ada, Taizz, and Al Hudaydah.”

Friday marked the fourth consecutive day of airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition following the collapse of peace talks. A presidential compound and a military base in San’a were the targets of Friday’s bombings.

Saturday, August 13 UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson issued a statement on the escalating violence in Yemen and called for a renewed ceasefire. He also condemned the recent move by the Houthis and Saleh to unilaterally form a governing council.

A coalition airstrike on a school in Sa’dah killed 10 children, ages 8-15, and wounded 38 others. The reason behind the targeting is unclear, but coalition spokesman General Ahmed al-Asiri released a statement claiming that the airstrike in fact hit a Houthi training camp and that children were present there as recruits. Local outlets reported that the children were taking an exam at the time.

Sunday, August 14 Yemeni forces backed by coalition aircraft have pushed al-Qaeda out of Zinjibar and Jaar and have "taken complete control of both cities,” according to Abyan Governor Al-Khader Mohammed al-Saidi. Forty members of AQAP were said to have been killed in the fighting. This is not the first time that Hadi’s government has claimed to have defeated AQAP in Abyan province, so it is unclear whether they have in fact been expelled from both cities.

Senator Rand Paul is considering forcing a vote to block a US arms sale to Saudi Arabia worth $1.15 billion. Paul explained his protest of the sale saying, “Saudi Arabia is an unreliable ally with a poor human rights record. We should not rush to sell them advanced arms and promote an arms race in the Middle East.”

The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency says that the sale, “conveys US commitment to Saudi Arabia’s security and armed forces modernization.”