"We welcome continuing efforts by UN Special Envoy, Martin Griffiths, to achieve an unconditional Houthi withdrawal from Hodeida city and port. We have paused our campaign to allow enough time for this option to be fully explored. We hope he will succeed," UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said on Twitter, AFP reported.
This is while reports coming out of Hudaydah suggest that Saudi-backed militants and the UAE forces have suffered massive losses in the past days in the western front.
UN special envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, has been shuttling between the warring parties to avert an all-out attack on the port, a lifeline for millions of Yemenis. He said on Thursday that he hoped negotiations could restart in the next few weeks.
Backed by Saudi-led airstrikes, Emirate forces and militants loyal to the former Yemeni government launched the Hudaydah assault on June 13 despite warnings that it would compound the impoverished nation’s humanitarian crisis.
Humanitarian organizations have warned that the Hudaydah operation threatens to cut off essential supplies to millions of Yemeni people. More than 70 percent of Yemen's imports pass through Hudaydah's docks.