The Official Spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition to in Yemen Turki Al-Malki announced the ceasefire in a statement

“Based on its previous announcement on March 25, 2020, the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition supported the Yemeni government’s decision to accept the United Nations Secretary General's call to a ceasefire in Yemen in order to counter the spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, welcomed the announcement, adding that the move comes in support of the UN’s peace process and the UN Secretary-General’s call for a nationwide ceasefire in order to avert the grave risks of a COVID-19 outbreak in Yemen.

The Saudi-led coalition has received widespread criticism and had a dramatic worsening effect on Yemen's humanitarian situation, that reached the level of a “humanitarian disaster” or “humanitarian catastrophe”, and some have labelled it as a genocide.

Over 100,000 people have been killed in Yemen, including more than 12,000 civilians, as well as estimates of more than 85,000 dead as a result of an ongoing famine due to the war. (ILKHA)