Saudi Arabia on Thursday (September 21st) proposed that vital food and medicine relief aid for Yemen be shipped through its Jizan port on the Red Sea to avoid Yemen's al-Hodeida port, which is controlled by the Houthis (Ansarallah), AFP reported.
King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre head Abdullah al-Rabeeah said Houthi militia are holding up relief materials in al-Hodeidah, preventing them from getting to Yemenis suffering after three years of war.
Instead, he said, they are mainly letting through building materials, cars and trucks.
When they do allow a cargo of food or medical supplies through, he said, the militia controlling the port is charging relief agencies as much as $100,000 to offload a vessel.
Jizan, about 260 kilometres north of al-Hodeidah, "is far closer to Saada and the north than al-Hodeidah", Rabeeah said.
"Although we would like to see al-Hodeidah to full capacity, until that happens we should use the maximum available ports, whether they are from Yemen, from Saudi Arabia, or land ports," he said.
On Tuesday an Arab coalition spokesman said 15 cargo ships carrying food and fuel and authorised by the coalition to enter the port were still waiting to dock due to stalling by the Houthis.
