Ansarullah spokesman said a pause in Saudi airstrikes against Hodeidah is not a submission to international pressure but a bid to buy time and reinforce the military strength for a fresh offensive.

“In every round of aggression against Yemen, the escalation begins and then dies down, mostly without declaring a truce,” Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam wrote in a tweet on Thursday night.

“Given the recent developments in the battle on the ground, the aggressive coalition is trying to pretend that it has halted its attacks [on Hodeidah] in response to global pressure or to allow the dispatch of humanitarian aid, but that’s a big lie,” he said.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have deployed about 10,000 new troops to Yemen’s west coast after repeated campaigns to seize Hodeidah were thwarted by Houthis and their allies in the Yemeni army.

The invaders have hit a stiff wall of resistance put up by the city’s protectors who have pushed back the militants and mercenaries.