UN's Yemen ambassador 'confident' about Hodeida ceasefire

Kuwait's UN ambassador says UN envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths "is optimistic" that a cease-fire in the key Red Sea port of Hodeida is holding despite some violations.

Griffiths is reportedly of the belief that Yemen's government and Houthi rebels are committed to redeploying their forces from the area.

Mansour Al-Otaibi said Griffiths told the Security Council in a closed-door video briefing on Thursday that there will be a UN-facilitated meeting of government and Houthi representatives in the next few days on a vessel in Hodeida to discuss details on how to implement the redeployment of forces.

He said the council is united in wanting to see the December 13 agreement reached in Stockholm fully implemented.

Griffiths just concluded a series of meetings with government leaders in Saudi Arabia and Houthi leaders in Yemen's capital Sanaa.

The Yemen conflict has killed at least 10,000 people since a Saudi-led military coalition intervened in support of the beleaguered government in March 2015, according to the World Health Organisation. 

Human rights groups believe the real death toll could be five times as high.

The war has pushed 14 million Yemenis to the brink of famine in what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.