Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the Houthi movement agreed to release more than 1,600 detainees, reaching what the United Nations described as the largest conflict-related exchange negotiated during the country’s 11-year civil war.
The parties signed the agreement in Amman, Jordan, after 14 weeks of negotiations observed by United Nations officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The deal settled the identities of the people to be freed, according to the ICRC, although no starting date for the releases was immediately announced. The humanitarian organization said it was prepared to help return detainees to their home areas. That facilitation role would become central once implementation began, because the agreement covered people held by opposing sides and required their repatriation after release.
Abdelkader al-Murtada, the Houthi official responsible for prisoner affairs and a participant in the negotiations, said 1,100 of nearly 1,700 detainees covered by the arrangement were affiliated with the Houthis. He said seven Saudi nationals and 20 Sudanese nationals were among 580 detainees to be released by the other side. The figures provided by the parties were not independently detailed in the announcement.
Yahya Kazman, who led the government delegation, said the Houthis would also release an unspecified number of politicians and media workers. He did not identify them or provide further information about their cases.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the agreement and urged both sides to implement it quickly so separated families could be reunited. He also called on them to use the deal’s momentum to pursue an inclusive political process aimed at a durable peace. In a separate appeal, he urged the Houthis to release U.N., aid-group, civil-society and diplomatic personnel being held arbitrarily.
U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said the Amman outcome built on talks held in Oman in December 2025, when the parties discussed the possible release of 2,900 detainees. The new agreement represents a concrete but narrower list, with implementation still to follow.
Yemen’s war began in 2014 when the Houthis captured Sanaa and much of the north, forcing the government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition that included the United Arab Emirates intervened in 2015 seeking to restore the government. Years of fighting have devastated the economy, while the World Food Program has reported severe food insecurity in northern provinces.
The detainee agreement does not itself resolve the wider conflict. Its immediate test will be whether the parties complete the releases and repatriations they approved in Amman, turning a negotiated list into reunions for families divided by the war.
