Saudi Arabia has two messages for the people of Yemen, it appears: Flee now, and get ready for a temporary ceasefire later.
The first came in the form of leaflets that Saudi forces began dropping Thursday for residents of Yemen’s Saada province, telling them to leave before evening — a possible precursor to intensified military activity in the already flashpoint region.
According to locals and two Houthi officials, the leaflets warn that the Saudis will consider Saada an enemy military zone beginning at 7 p.m. (noon ET) Friday.
Thousands of families evacuated Saada province — which is in northern Yemen, close to the Saudi border — throughout Friday.
And the deadline didn’t entirely stop the Saudi-led coalition that’s been launching airstrikes against the Houthis, the Shiite minority rebel group that ousted Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi earlier this year that has taken over the capital Sanaa and many other parts of the Arab nation.
According to Houthi officials and witnesses, dozens of airstrikes Friday morning hit several Houthi strongholds including Razeh and Marran. The latter locale, Marran, is the home of the late Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, the founder of the Houthi movement.
Saudi minister: Five-day ceasefire would start Tuesday
The Saudis’ second message also came Friday, when their top diplomat promised peace — at least temporarily.
Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said that his country will implement a five-day ceasefire for Yemen beginning at 11 p.m. next Tuesday. His announcement comes a day after the proposal was floated in order to allow humanitarian organizations to bring much needed aid into the war-torn Arab nation.
It’s not clear if the Houthis were consulted on this ceasefire plan, much less if they’ve signed off on it. Both al-Jubeir and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have said that any ceasefire is conditional on the Houthis stopping fighting themselves.
For those reasons and more, it’s no guarantee that there will be even a temporary lull in the violence starting next week.
Any respite would be a blessing, and a change, for the nation of more than 27 million people. Yemenis have been dealing with violence for months, and it ratcheted up significantly with the March start of Saudi-led strikes on the Houthis and in support of Hadi, who is now outside Yemen but claims he is still its legitimate President.
Houthi leadership will meet and discuss the Saudi ceasefire proposal, two senior Houthi officials told CNN.
Even if the Houthis accepted the deal, several days would need to pass before the ceasefire could start, because aid groups need time to prepare to take advantage of the opportunity.
Between March 26 and May 3, at least 646 civilians were killed and more than 1,300 were wounded, the United Nations says.