Warring sides in Yemen are due to put down their arms late Tuesday and begin observing a five-day cease-fire in order to allow badly needed humanitarian aid to reach civilians inside the conflict-battered country.

Houthi rebels, government forces and the Saudi-led coalition that has been conducting airstrikes for the past six weeks in Yemen have all pledged to observe the truce, but there was no guarantee it would take hold with heavy fighting continuing through Monday.

Ahead of the cease-fire deadline, U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos pleaded with all parties to halt the violence and let aid workers deliver food, provide medical care, ensure access to clean water and allow people to escape to safer areas.

“Given the deteriorating humanitarian situation on the ground in Yemen with hundreds of thousands of vulnerable civilians trapped in the middle of fighting and unable to access lifesaving aid it is essential that this pause materialize,” Amos said in a statement.

The U.N. says the fighting in Yemen has killed more than 1,400 people.

The conflict involves Houthi rebels who took control of the capital in September then pushed to the south in an offensive earlier this year that forced President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia.  The Saudis and other allies launched their airstrikes against the Houthis in late March at the request of Hadi.
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