Mohammed Sameai and Rania Abushamala
14 May 2026•Update: 14 May 2026
Yemen’s government said Thursday it signed the “largest” prisoner exchange deal with the Houthi group, involving 1,728 detainees from both sides.
Yahya Kazman, deputy head of the government negotiating team, said in a post on the US social media platform X that the agreement was signed in the Jordanian capital Amman.
“Today, in Amman, the largest deal in the history of the detainees, abductees, and forcibly disappeared file was signed,” Kazman said.
The agreement includes the release of “approximately 1,728 detainees from both parties,” he added.
The deal covers the release of Arab coalition members, personnel from the armed forces and security services, and pro-government fighters, as well as a number of politicians and journalists “who spent long years in Houthi prisons,” according to Kazman.
He expressed “full solidarity” with those still detained, pledging continued efforts alongside their families until all detainees are released “as part of efforts to empty the prisons.”
Jordan’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that negotiations were held between the Yemeni government and Houthis as part of efforts “to support achieving peace, security and stability in Yemen.”
Ministry spokesperson Fouad Al-Majali praised efforts by UN envoy Hans Grundberg, “as well as the important role of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the concerned parties in reaching this important humanitarian agreement and securing the release of the largest number of detainees since the beginning of the Yemeni crisis.”
“This is a significant achievement,” Grundberg told reporters, adding that the agreement marks “the largest agreed release of conflict-related detainees in any round of negotiations” since the outbreak of the Yemeni conflict.
Grundberg said the deal demonstrated that “even amid deep mistrust and prolonged conflict, dialogue can still yield results,” while offering “hope and relief to thousands of families who have waited far too long -- some for over a decade -- for the release of their relatives.”
The UN envoy also thanked the ICRC for its role as co-chair of the supervisory committee overseeing the process, and expressed gratitude to Jordan for hosting the talks.
“The next critical step is implementation,” he said, adding that the parties had agreed on a release plan with the ICRC.
He urged the sides to continue efforts toward further detainee releases, including through unilateral initiatives based on the “all-for-all” principle under the Stockholm Agreement.
There was no comment from the Houthis on the agreement as of yet.
Yemen has largely observed a period of reduced violence since April 2022 following a war that began more than 11 years ago between government forces and Houthi fighters, who have controlled several provinces and cities, including the capital, Sanaa, since September 2014.
The war has devastated much of Yemen’s infrastructure and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, amid ongoing UN efforts to advance a peace process in the country.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul
