Amid the launch of the large-scale ground operation by the Yemeni army and Arab Coalition to liberate Hodeidah and its port, west of Yemen on Wednesday, the United Nations and some western countries voiced their concern, calling for political solutions in order to protect the civilians.

While the United Kingdom has called for an emergency meeting for the UN Security Council, the UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths called all parties to the conflict to resort to peaceful solutions and start a negotiation process.

Griffiths expressed his concern towards the military escalation and its consequences on both the humanitarian and political levels, urging self-restraint by all parties.

These stances which contradicts the international community and the United Nations regarding the situation in Hodeidah, is seen by the Yemeni legitimate forces backed by the Arab coalition as coming short on their warnings that this port city is being used by the Houthi militias to smuggle weapons, threaten shipping activities and confiscate humanitarian aid meant for civilians.

More than a year ago, the Arab coalition called through its former spokesperson colonel Ahmed Assiri for the United Nations to take control over the port of Hodeidah and supervise its activities. But the UN rejected this request, arguing that securing the port is not part of its functions.

Through this period and in many occasions, the Arab coalition has called for an International action to put a halt to rockets and weapons smuggling through aid campaigns entering Yemen from Hodeidah port, demanding to no vain, that the International community should send humanitarian organizations to monitor the aid shipment entering Yemen.

Source :  english.alarabiya.net