The latest pressure campaign comes as the US says the peace plan cannot move forward if attacks in the Red Sea persist, Bloomberg reports.
The United States and its allies are increasingly seeking to block funds from reaching Yemen’s Houthi group, an effort that could undermine United Nations-led efforts to end the country’s civil war, Bloomberg News reported.
According to the report published on Thursday, Washington intends to block large parts of a UN peace plan that the warring parties in Yemen adopted in December unless the Houthis cease their attacks on international shipping lanes.
This includes $1.5 billion to be paid by Saudi Arabia to civil servants in Houthi-controlled areas in line with the UN roadmap, Bloomberg reported, citing an unnamed source.
An anonymous State Department official told Bloomberg that agreements linked to the UN plan can only proceed if the Houthis stop their attacks, while adding that the US still supports peace in Yemen.
The Houthis have attacked ships in the Red Sea and fired missiles and drones at Israeli targets in a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza, provoking the ire of US President Joe Biden’s administration.
The US and its allies have been bombing Houthi targets in Yemen since January, but the military campaign has not stopped Houthi attacks. The Houthis have pledged to continue attacking Israeli-linked ships as long as the war in Gaza, which has killed at least 36,654 Palestinians, continues.
Most recently, on Thursday, the group said it targeted two ships in the port of Haifa, Israel.
Banks ordered to close in Houthi territory
In March 2015, a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched what would become a years-long offensive in support of Yemen’s internationally recognized government against the Iranian-allied Houthis who had seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.
The fighting, which triggered a major humanitarian crisis, has turned into a protracted conflict, with the Houthis remaining in control of Sanaa and other major population centers, and the Saudi-backed government remaining in the southern city of Aden. .
The warring parties agreed in April 2022 to a ceasefire, which expired in October of that year. But the fighting has largely stopped amid diplomatic efforts to find a lasting resolution to the conflict.
The December UN roadmap included “implementing a nationwide ceasefire, paying public sector salaries, resuming oil exports, opening roads in Taiz and other parts of Yemen” and alleviating restrictions remaining at Sanaa Airport and Hodeidah Port.
Still, tensions between the Houthis and the internationally recognized government remained high, especially on economic issues. US pressure to tighten the Houthis’ finances risks exacerbating them further.
In January, the Biden administration designated the Houthis as “global terrorists” due to their attacks in the Red Sea, a move that allowed for sweeping financial sanctions against the group.
According to Thursday’s Bloomberg report, the latest US effort comes as the Central Bank of Yemen, which remains under the control of the Saudi-backed government, has moved to suspend operations at banks in areas controlled by the Houthi, including Sanaa.
The central bank governor cited failure to comply with orders for all financial institutions to move their headquarters to Aden.
The move is expected to choke off the Houthi’s access to foreign currency and deplete the group’s liquidity. This was done with the support of the US and Western allies, Bloomberg reported, citing four people with direct knowledge of the situation.
Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi called the move against Sanaa-based banks an “American effort for the benefit of Israel,” adding that the US is trying to drag Saudi Arabia into the initiative.
“It’s a dangerous game – a game of adding fuel to the fire,” Al-Houthi said last month.
The UN special office for Yemen, led by Hans Grundberg, has repeatedly stated that Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and “related international military responses in Yemen” threaten the fragile truce in Yemen.
After years of war, Yemen continues to face one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, according to the UN, with more than 18 million people in need of aid and more than 17 million in a situation of food insecurity. Around 4.5 million people in the country remain displaced.
Meanwhile, intermittent public sector salary payments have accelerated the collapse of health, sanitation, water and education services, according to the UN.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
