Saudi Arabia to Start Lifting Blockade on Yemen After Protests

Saudi Arabia has said it will begin lifting the blockade of Yemen after thousands of Yemenis to took to the streets of Sanaa Sunday to condemn the continued Saudi-led bombings of their country, which includes the coalition's air, sea and land blockade.

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The march proceeded from the offices of the United Nations, with some demonstrators chanting “Death to Saudi Arabia,” “Death to Israel” and “Death to the U.S.”

Protesters not only carried signs denouncing the siege but also wielded banners slamming the international community's silence in the face of the war and subsequent humanitarian crisis.

Saudi Arabia and its allies announced the indefinite siege after a missile strike, allegedly originating from Yemeni, hit Riyadh's international airport. The U.N. has asked Saudi Arabia to lift the blockade as soon as possible, warning that the measure could have a "tremendously negative impact on a situation that is already catastrophic," according to HispanTV.

Since the bombing campaign against Yemen began in 2015, the U.K. has licensed roughly US$4.2 billion dollars in weapons to Saudi Arabia, according to PressTV.

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In early June, the U.S. Department of Defense also confirmed a US$750 million military sale to Saudi Arabia. It included U.S. made missiles, bombs, armored personnel carriers, warships, munitions, and a “blanket order training program” for the Saudi security forces receiving the military equipment both inside and outside the kingdom, Reuters reported.

Amid the bombing and devastation, which has killed over 33,000 people and forced more than a million to flee their homes, Yemen also faces a severe cholera outbreak that has claimed the lives of at least 2,119 people according to Alexandre Faite, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Since a bloody war began in March 2015, more than 33,395 people have been killed or injured, according to figures from a human rights center.

The U.N. asserts that delivery of humanitarian aid has been drastically hampered due to the indefinite blockade. Meanwhile, Wolfgang Jamann, head of the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief, a non-governmental humanitarian agency, described the ongoing crisis in Yemen as being an absolute “shame on humanity.”