Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels made it clear they are willing to negotiate an end to the armed conflict that has raged since 2014 during a meeting with representatives of the governments of Oman, which has taken a mediating role, and Saudi Arabia, which has formed a military alliance and intervened in the war in March 2015 on the side of the internationally recognized government.

During the meeting, Mahdi al-Massat, the head of Ansar Allah’s — the Houthis’ — supreme political council, called for a “fair and honest peace,” according to the rebel-controlled SABA news agency.

The delegations of Saudi Arabia and Oman have been in the Yemeni capital since Saturday, according to the same source. The aim is to renew the truce initially agreed last year and hold peace talks, the agency added.

Riyadh’s delegation is headed by Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed al-Jaber, who was personally received by Mr. Massat, according to SABA and the Houthi Al-Masira TV network. The latter broadcast footage of the two men shaking hands.

Saudi authorities have not commented on the rebels’ announcement, at least so far.

Like almost all of northern Yemen—with the sole exception of Marib province—Sanaa is in the hands of the Houthis, who are considered close to Iran. The military alliance under Saudi Arabia was never able to repel them.

But as Saudi Arabia has been trying for months to disengage from the stalemate in Yemen, the recent warming of relations between the Sunni kingdom and its arch-rival in the region, Shiite Iran, has fueled hopes that there will be a de-escalation of conflicts in the Middle East. especially in Yemen.

A fragile ceasefire was agreed between the Houthis and the government in April 2022. Hostilities broke out again after it ended in October, but did not become widespread, remaining sporadic.

The UN’s special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grudberg, has been trying for months to secure a renewal of the ceasefire and progress in peace talks, to no avail so far.

The UN emphasizes that Yemen is experiencing one of the worst humanitarian tragedies in the world. UNICEF announced last month that in the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula “a child dies every ten minutes from preventable causes” while millions of children are at risk of suffering extreme acute malnutrition.

The war has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Yemen, directly and indirectly, while uprooting millions more. More than 11,000 children were killed or maimed from 2015 to 2022, according to UNICEF.

Many residents of the country are eager for the war to end: