SANA’A (Dispatches) – Yemen’s popular Ansarullah resistance movement has hit out at the Saudi-led coalition for its continued blockade of Sana’a airport in Yemen’s capital in violation of a recently agreed ceasefire deal.
“The continued closure of Sana’a Airport and its refusal to allow flights agreed under the ceasefire and obstructing ships from reaching the port of al-Hudaydah proves the coalition of aggressors’ blatant defiance and lack of seriousness about peace,” Ansarullah spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam tweeted.
The commercial flight, the first in six years, was supposed to take passengers needing medical care to the Jordanian capital of Amman.
Hours before the flight, however, national carrier Yemenia said on its Facebook page that “it has not yet received operating permits” and expressed “deep regret to the travelers for not being allowed to operate” the long-awaited flight.
The United Nations brokered the truce earlier in the month. The agreement was supposed to provide a let-up in the war that the Saudi coalition began against Yemen in 2015.
The offensive that has been seeking to restore the country’s power to its former Riyadh-aligned officials, has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and turned the entire Yemen into the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The Insan Organization for Rights and Freedoms slammed the Saudi-led coalition for failing to implement the provisions of the two-month truce deal, including the full lifting of the blockade on Sana’a airport and Hudaydah port.
The rights group called on Monday for the “urgent and immediate” lifting of the blockade imposed on Sana’a airport, holding the member countries of the Saudi-led coalition responsible for the harm caused by the continuing siege to more than 25 million civilians in Yemen.

New Prisoner Swap Offer

In another development, Yemen’s National Salvation Government has proposed a new prisoner swap with the Saudi-led coalition, amid a delay in the implementation of a previously agreed prisoner exchange deal.
Abdul Qader al-Murtada, the head of the National Committee for Prisoner Affairs, said on Sunday the offer stipulates “the release of 200 prisoners from each side before Eid al-Fitr,” which will begin next week.
He noted that the offer was submitted to the Saudi-led coalition through the United Nations.
The official said Yemen was waiting for the coalition’s response that it hopes would be “positive.”
Last month, Yemen’s prisoner affairs committee announced that a prisoner exchange deal was agreed between the warring parties under which 1,400 prisoners from the Yemeni army and popular committees would be released in return for 823 from the other side, including 16 Saudis and three Sudanese.