All eyes are on Riyadh since the Yemeni-Yemeni consultations began under the auspices of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and with the United Nations and international presence. All those, who love Yemen and are eager to save it from the worsening human catastrophe that it has reached, want to have a way out of it. This time hope is greater than what it was in previous times when it collapsed quickly after every attempt to salvage it.

Among the glad tidings of what is happening in Riyadh are the Arab Coalition’s announcement of a two-month truce and the opening of the Hodeidah port, Sanaa airport, and the corridors and crossings of Taiz as the first real breakthrough since a long time. So far we hope that the truce would be steadfast and would not be subjected to Houthi violations as usual though Houthis have not yet directly participated in the consultations. However, there was invariably indirect contact with them and that led to the truce.

If they do not attend the consultations, at least we hope that the gathered Yemeni components would reach a common word among themselves, because it is the first time since the beginning of the Yemen crisis that such a wide spectrum of Yemenis have gathered in one place and for one goal that was not previously agreed upon.

These segments had different goals, interests, and aspirations, wracked by differences and overshadowed by narrow subjectivity, at a time when Yemen was supposed to be a major national issue instead of relegating to a lower rank in their list of priorities. Unfortunately, this is the truth, and this is what made the Houthis gain strength over them in Yemen.

What is required now is full preparation for the phase after the consultations and the temporary truce. There are only two tracks — either the path of a political solution to achieve peace with the participation of the Houthis or the path of war to extricate Yemen from them. There won’t be victory for either of them if all Yemeni parties join together on one goal, one voice and one conscience.