HODEIDA: At least 150 people have been killed in 24 hours of clashes in the Yemeni port city of Hodeida, medics said on Monday, as Britain’s top diplomat visited Riyadh seeking to boost international calls for a ceasefire.

Government loyalists supported by a Saudi-led coalition are fighting to oust the Iran-backed Houthi rebels from the strategic Red Sea city, whose docks are a lifeline to 14 million Yemenis at risk of starvation.

Asked about the possibility of a ceasefire, a coalition spokesman told reporters in Riyadh that “the operation is still ongoing”, adding that it was meant to pressure the rebels to come to the negotiating table.

A Hodeida resident reported an ebb in fighting around the city by Monday evening, but UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of a possible “catastrophic situation” if the port is destroyed. “The fighting must stop, a political debate must begin, and we must prepare a massive humanitarian response to avoid the worst next year,” he said.

Government forces, led on the ground by Emirati-backed troops, have made their way into Hodeida after 11 days of clashes, reaching residential neighbourhoods in the east on Sunday and sparking fears of street fights that would further endanger civilians trapped in the city.

Residents and government military sources have reported rebel snipers stationed on rooftops in civilian streets in eastern Hodeida, a few kilometres from the port on the western edge of the city.

Mariam Aldogani, Save the Children’s field coordinator in Yemen, said that the people in Hodeida are living in a “state of fear”.

“There is ongoing fighting, and the situation is very bad,” she told AFP over the weekend by phone, as strikes were heard in the background.

‘Enough is enough’

The Hodeida offensive has sparked international outcry unprecedented in nearly four years of conflict between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government.

Britain, the United States and France have all called for a cessation to the hostilities. All three countries are major suppliers of arms to Saudi Arabia.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has urged Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a major ally of Washington, to engage in peace talks.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt met with Saudi King Salman on Monday during a visit to the kingdom to press its rulers to support UN efforts to end the conflict.

In France, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said it was time “the international community said enough is enough. There will be no victor in this war,” Le Drian told France 2 TV.

The United Nations’ Yemen envoy, Martin Griffiths, is pushing for peace talks between the Houthis and the government by the end of the year.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2018