The implementation of a deal to exchange more than 1,600 detainees held in connection with the conflict in Yemen, which was scheduled to begin on Saturday, has been postponed amid mutual accusations between the internationally recognized government and the Houthi group over responsibility for obstructing it. Meanwhile, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said he had received renewed assurances from both sides of their full commitment to implementing the agreement.
The Office of the UN Special Envoy said on Saturday that, over the past 48 hours, Grundberg had received renewed assurances from the Yemeni government and the “Houthis” regarding their commitment to the full implementation of the May 2026 agreement concerning the release of more than 1,600 conflict-related detainees.
The UN envoy urged both sides to intensify their efforts to complete the remaining technical and operational arrangements as soon as possible, noting that both parties had reaffirmed their commitment to doing so.
The Yemeni government had accused the Houthi group of refusing to implement the deal on the agreed date. Hadi Haig, head of the government negotiating team on abductees and prisoners, said the team received a notification on Friday from the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Office of the UN Special Envoy stating that the Houthis had refused to carry out the exchange and had postponed it until an unspecified date.
Haig confirmed that the government team had completed all procedures required to implement the deal and release the detainees and abductees, despite what he described as “obstacles placed by the militias to derail the completion of the deal.”
The government official held the Houthi group responsible for the failure to implement the deal on schedule, accusing it of exploiting the detainees and abductees file for “political, military and economic blackmail” and of showing no concern for the suffering of detainees and their families.
For his part, Yahya Kazman, deputy head of the government negotiating team on prisoners, said the Office of the UN Special Envoy had been informed that the Houthis refused to allow International Committee of the Red Cross aircraft to reach Sana’a and requested the postponement of the deal, which had been scheduled for Saturday, July 11.
He added that the government had informed the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross of its full readiness to implement the agreement on schedule, stressing that it had fulfilled all its obligations and was prepared to complete the exchange process in accordance with the agreement signed on May 14, 2026.
In contrast, the Houthi group blamed the government for delaying the deal. Abdulqader al-Murtadha, head of the group’s Prisoners’ Affairs Committee, said the delay was due to “the other side’s procrastination in fulfilling the agreed commitments,” despite his group’s readiness to carry out the operation on schedule.
Al-Murtadha added that the government side had refused to include the remaining prisoners in its custody, which, according to him, obstructed the implementation of the agreement. He said his group had informed the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross that it was ready to implement the deal as soon as the other side complied with the agreed points.
Al-Murtadha accused the government side of attempting to “mislead public opinion by bypassing a number of fundamental points that had been agreed upon for implementation before completing the exchange process,” once again holding it responsible for any delay or failure to implement the deal.
On May 14, the Yemeni government and the Houthi group signed an agreement in the Jordanian capital, Amman, to release around 1,700 detainees held by both sides, including seven Saudis and 20 Sudanese members of the Arab Coalition forces, following three months of consultations. The deal is the largest of its kind in Yemen and had been scheduled for implementation on July 11.
