A senior official in the Houthi-affiliated government revealed yesterday that the group has contacted Saudi Arabia through intermediaries to contain the recent military escalation between the two parties.

“We extend our hand for a comprehensive peace that produces complete, undivided solutions,” Minister of Information Dhaifullah Al-Shami said.

The Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al-Jaber, told The Wall Street Journal that his country does not intend to escalate the current situation with the Houthis, adding that the kingdom is holding daily talks with the group to end the war.

He explained that the Saudi-led coalition’s recent air strikes on Houthi military sites in the capital, Sanaa, came in response to the Houthi escalation.

Earlier on Sunday the Saudi-led coalition announced that Saudi air defences intercepted two ballistic missiles above the kingdom’s capital, Riyadh, and the southern city of Jizan.