A SAUDI ceasefire during the holy month of Ramadan is meaningless as long as the brutal siege of Yemen continues, the Houthi resistance movement said today.

Riyadh announced a pause in hostilities which started at 6am local time today, bringing a temporary end to the relentless bombardment of Yemen.

It came days after the Houthi movement offered to make its own three-day ceasefire permanent in a bid to end seven years of devastating Saudi-led war.

Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki promised that the coalition would “abide by this cessation and undertake all necessary steps and procedures to endure its success” in a statement just before midnight on Tuesday.

But Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi movement’s political bureau, dismissed the gesture, saying the blockade of the port of Hudaydah must be brought to an end.

“The Yemen blockade is considered a military action because it was imposed by force of arms. If the siege is not lifted, the coalition’s announcement of the cessation of military operations will be meaningless,” he said.

Hudaydah’s port is a lifeline to millions of Yemeni people and is the only entry point for humanitarian aid and other supplies.

Saudi and US forces are accused of seizing oil ships bound for Yemen, which officials warn is exacerbating a humanitarian catastrophe that has seen nearly 400,000 people killed and a further 17 million condemned to starvation.

Lifting the siege is an essential step to bring peace to Yemen, the country’s supreme political council has said, urging Saudi Arabia to end its aggression.

Saturday marked the seventh anniversary of the war, launched by Riyadh with the support of Western countries including Britain, France and the US.

Some 250,000 missiles have been fired as the coalition aims to restore the government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who was ousted in a popular Houthi-led uprising in 2015.