SANAA (DNA) – Diplomatic efforts to end fighting in Yemen s Hodeida intensified Tuesday, as Britain said the Saudi-led coalition had agreed to the evacuation of wounded rebels from the country ahead of proposed peace talks in Sweden.

After nearly four years of conflict in Yemen, home to what the UN calls the world s worst humanitarian catastrophe, the United States and Britain are now pressing Saudi Arabia and its allies to end the war against the Iran-backed Huthi rebels.

UN aid chief Mark Lowcock on Tuesday called for a cessation of hostilities “in and around all the infrastructure and facilities on which the aid operation and commercial importers rely”, a reference to the port of Hodeida, as pressure mounts for a truce after nearly four years of conflict.

The office of British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the Saudi-led alliance fighting on the side of the government had agreed to the evacuation of up to 50 wounded Huthi fighters to Oman following Hunt s visit to Riyadh.

The move comes ahead of another proposed round of peace talks in Sweden later this month, Hunt s office said.

But residents in Hodeida, whose port is vital for food imports and humanitarian aid for millions at risk of starvation, say they now fear a siege on the city, where only one major exit route is still open to traffic, on the northern edge of the city.

And despite an apparent temporary lull in the fighting, a spokesman for the Huthis said the rebels were ready for “war in the streets” of rebel-held Hodeida itself.

“We are ready, and present, and our plans are in place” in case of an attack by the rival pro-government alliance, the spokesman said at a news conference broadcast on the rebels  Al-Masirah TV, which did not give his name.

Residents reported Tuesday that fighting in the city had slowed, and rebel media — which regularly claims attacks on loyalists — did not report any new clashes in Hodeida itself.