The kingdom has said it will hold a nationwide ceasefire with Houthi rebels if the group agrees to the terms of the initiative.
The Saudi initiative is the latest attempt to bring about a ceasefire between Yemen’s warring parties. The UN has been engaged in a long-standing negotiation between the opposing parties. More recently, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken received no response after offering peace talks to the Houthis.
One Houthi official described the initiative as “not serious or new”, according to Al Masirah news agency.
Houthi spokesman Mohamed Abdel Salam said on Twitter that any deal should address a Saudi air and sea blockade. A recent CNN investigation in Yemen has revealed that not a single oil tanker has been able to dock in Yemen’s northern port of Hodeidah this year due to a blockade imposed by Saudi warships.
“Any position or initiative that does not recognize the aggression and blockade of the past six years and separates the humanitarian aspect of military and political issues and lifts the blockade is not new or serious,” Salam said on Twitter.
The blockade starved the Houthis of oil tax revenue, but also severely hampered the ability of humanitarian agencies to provide assistance, including food, as the famine crept into the country.
The Iran-oriented Houthi group controls northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and Hodeidah, and has been at war with a Saudi-led military alliance since 2015.
Asked how a UN ceasefire would be monitored, Saudi officials told reporters during a briefing that they had no details on where and how many UN officials would be involved. They said it was “up to UN envoys to arrange.”
President Joe Biden announced earlier this year that the US would end support for Saudi Arabia’s offensive operations in Yemen, in a move considered by legislators to be ‘historic’.
CNN’s Angela Dewan contributed to this report from London.