Saudi Arabia has started a two-week ceasefire in Yemen against the Houthis, designed to show its awareness of COVID-19. According to The Guardian, there have been no cases of the disease, however, Saudi Arabia, who shares borders with Yemen, has had 40 deaths and Yemen has closed the borders to their country. Even though a ceasefire has been declared, according to Houthi spokesman Mohamed Abdelsalam, “The aggression didn’t stop … and until this moment there are tens of continuous airstrikes.” 

This ceasefire could pave the way for peace talks between Saudi Arabia backed Yemen and Iran backed Houthi rebels. According to MSN, the goal of the ceasefire is to create a peaceful environment for UN talks. Saudi Arabia has also shown its willingness to negotiate with the Houthi rebel group by offering the ceasefire, as well as, according to The New York Times, setting aside $500 million for the UN to do humanitarian work in Yemen and $25 million to fight the coronavirus. The ceasefire is meant to be a sort of “case study” to gauge how willing the Houthi rebels are to negotiate, especially because they have recently been making gains in territory over the Yemeni.