The UN will host Yemen’s warring parties for peace talks in Geneva on Thursday

Today, for the first time in two years, the United Nation’s special envoy for Yemen will host peace talks in Geneva between Saudi backed forces and Iran-backed Houthi rebels of the country’s long-running civil war.

The war between the two factions significantly escalated in 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition militarily intervened in the country to restore the Houthi-overthrown, UN-recognised government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour.

According to the UN, agencies helped over7.5 million people displaced by the fighting since January. The announcement of the talks came only hours after Saudi-led forces conducted an airstrike that left more than 25 dead and 50 injured civilians. UN human rights experts have repeatedly accused Saudi strikes of neglecting civilian casualties and constituting war crimes.

It is unlikely talks today will reach any significant political resolution to the conflict, as Houthi forces continue to control Yemen’s capital and most of the western part of the country. However, the possibility of a temporary humanitarian ceasefire is pertinent. While the war in Yemen has not been as much of a topic of conversation as other global conflicts, another significant humanitarian disaster, like the recent Saudi strike, could prompt a larger humanitarian pause in the conflict from the international community.