Yemen Government And Houthis Agree On Nearly 3,000 Prisoner Exchange In Oman

Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the Houthi rebels agreed on a prisoner exchange involving nearly 3,000 detainees after several days of talks in Oman, with the government delegation member Majed Fadhail saying, "We signed today an agreement with the other side to implement a large-scale prisoner exchange involving 1,700 of our prisoners in exchange for 1,200 of theirs."

The Houthi detainee delegation head Abdelkader al-Mourtada said the deal would include "seven Saudis and 23 Sudanese," and Fadhail told AFP that two of the seven Saudi nationals were air force pilots.

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Le Figaro and Le Monde both described the agreement as the most significant to date if it materializes, with Le Figaro saying it would involve nearly 3,000 prisoners and mark a major advance in a conflict that has lasted more than ten years.

Both outlets also tied the negotiations to the broader Yemen war context, with Le Monde noting the conflict began in 2014 when the rebels seized Sana'a and that the government is temporarily based in Aden in the south.

The UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg welcomed the agreement, calling it a "positive and meaningful measure" while warning that implementation would require continued commitment and cooperation from the parties.

After a planned exchange scheduled for Saturday failed to take place, Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the Houthi group reaffirmed their commitment to a UN-brokered prisoner release agreement, with UN special envoy Hans Grundberg saying he received "renewed assurances" from both sides over the past 48 hours.

In a statement on social media platform X, Grundberg urged both sides to intensify efforts to complete "as soon as possible the outstanding technical and operational preparations" for the exchange.

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The Yemen Online report said the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN envoy’s office informed the government that the Houthis refused to proceed with the exchange on time, while the government said it had completed all necessary preparations despite "obstructions" by the Houthis.

Kurdistan24 similarly described competing claims after the postponement, quoting Hadi Haig that the government received formal notification from the ICRC and the UN Special Envoy indicating the Houthis declined to implement the exchange on the agreed date.

Against that backdrop, the UN News account said Grundberg told the Security Council that Yemen had a "serious opportunity to end the war" and warned that "the wind could still turn" unless the parties take bolder steps toward peace.

The UN News briefing framed the prisoner-exchange effort as part of a wider chance to end the war, saying that while an expired ceasefire continues to yield results, "Yemen is once again at a crossroads" exactly one year after the parties agreed to a ceasefire under UN auspices.

“In Yemen, a prisoner exchange agreement between the warring parties is generating both hope and perplexity”

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Grundberg told the Security Council that over the weekend nearly 900 people from all sides detained in connection with the conflict were released from prison, and he said "Food, fuel and other commercial ships continue to flow to Hodeidah" alongside commercial flights between Sanaa International Airport and Amman, Jordan.

He also stressed that recent military activity in several governorates increases the potential for escalation that could erase hard-won gains, and he urged the international community to "step up support so that this delicate and rare opportunity is not lost."

OCHA’s Ghada Eltahir Mudawi said more than 21 million Yemenis need emergency aid and that recent heavy rains affected more than 100,000 people, while she warned that measles, polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases "are spreading at dangerous speeds."

Mudawi added that humanitarian workers face "significant and chronic access obstacles" primarily in areas controlled by the Houthis, and she said movement restrictions hinder Yemeni humanitarian workers and reduce the ability to reach the most vulnerable communities.