A delegation of Yemen’s Houthi rebels is set to travel to Sweden for UN-hosted peace talks on Tuesday as medics in the city of Hodeidah warn civilians are dying at home after fierce fighting engulfed the main hospitals.

UN special envoy Martin Griffiths arrived in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Monday to escort the rebels, Houthi officials told The Independent.

On Monday afternoon at least 50 wounded rebels were at the airport waiting for transfer by UN aircraft to Oman for treatment, which is one of the conditions of the group’s attendance at the talks.

Yemen’s official government, which is backed by a Saudi Arabia-led coalition, meanwhile said it would follow the Houthis to the meeting, which is due to start on Wednesday. If the negotiations go ahead they would be the first since 2016.

But undermining the hopes of peace is the battle which continues to rage in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah. Distraught medics told The Independent on Monday that patients, including children starving to death, pregnant women, and people needing chemotherapy, were unable to access the city’s main hospital al-Thawra as fighting now completely encircles the building.

“The fighting has never been this bad,” said Dr Ashwaq Moharram, a gynaecologist, who broke down into tears during the phone call. “We cannot access al-Thawra to treat our patients, as the fighting has completely surrounded it.”

The doctor has been fighting a one-woman battle against famine for the last three years and is one of the few medics who stayed in Hodeidah to treat civilians.

She continued: “For two days now, I have seen with my own eyes airstrikes and shelling from both sides all around the hospital. There are patients that cannot move because they are so severely malnourished, and say they will die in the hospital.”

She added: “There are others who urgently need medical help because they are so malnourished or dehydrated, but they can’t get there. They told me they will simply die at home.”

The hospital is one of only two that were still functioning in the strategic city a few weeks ago. The Independent was not able confirm if the other medical centre was operating.

Ms Moharram said al-Thawra usually treats dozens of cases of severely malnourished or dehydrated people every day and that it services areas all over Hodeidah and beyond.

“The battle is in the heart of the city. Please tell them to stop,” she begged.

Yemen has been ripped apart by a ruinous three-and-a-half-year war since the Iran-backed Houthis swept control of the country in early 2015, ousting the recognised president Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies launched a bombing campaign in March of the same year to reinstate their ally, fearing the encroachment of Iranian influence on their borders. The ensuing fighting has sparked the worst humanitarian crisis in terms of numbers and pushed the country to the brink of famine.

Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Show all 17 1 /17 Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Doctors take some blood of Yemeni Yousef Abdullah Bakhit Ali, 13, suffering from severe acute malnutrition. With ongoing and unending conflict in Yemen, humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate across the country Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen A doctor weighs Yemeni baby Yahya Hamoud Ali Al Huzef, 9 months suffering from malnutrition Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal,12 years old and suffering from severe acute malnutrition. He arrives with his family at a Unicef supported treatment centre in a hospital in Sanaa Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen A doctor measures the arm of Yemeni Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal, 12, who is suffering from malnutrition at a treatment centre in a hospital in Sanaa Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen There are over 400,000 severely malnourished children in need urgent lifesaving assistance in Yemen Unicef/Abdulhaleem Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal is weighed Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen A doctor measures the arm of baby Yahya Hamoud Ali Al Huzef Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef are currently working to reach 275,000 malnourished children with critical life-saving supplies and care for over 5 million people with safe and clean water to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Yahya Hamoud Ali Al Huzef with his family in his house in the outskirts of the capital Sanaa Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen The country is on the brink of famine and children's chances of survival are becoming slimmer by the day Unicef/Abdulhaleem Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal has his arm measured Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef are currently working to provide nearly 1 million children with vaccines and healthcare Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Doctors take some blood of Yemeni Yousef Abdullah Bakhit Ali, 13 years old suffering from severe acute malnutrition at a treatment centre in a hospital in the capital Sanaa on November 2, 2018. (Release obtained) With ongoing and unending conflict in Yemen, humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate across the country. There are over 400,000 severely malnourished children in need urgent lifesaving assistance in Yemen. The country is on the brink of famine and childrenâ€™s chances of survival are becoming slimmer by the day. UNICEF are working with partners around-the clock to save children suffering from malnutrition and disease. We are currently working to reach: â€¢ 275,000 malnourished children with critical life-saving supplies and care â€¢ Over 5 million people with safe and clean water to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases â€¢ Nearly 1 million children with vaccines and healthcare â€¢ 9 million people with emergency cash assistance to help families buy basic commodities so they can survive Â© UNICEF/UN0253367/ Huwais Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef are working with partners around-the clock to save children suffering from malnutrition and disease Unicef/Abdulhaleem Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef are currently working to provide 9 million people with emergency cash assistance to help families buy basic commodities so they can survive Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal is suffering from malnutrition Unicef Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen On 31 October 2018 in Yemen, the Al Thawra Hospital in Hodeidah where children are being treated for severe acute malnutrition. UNICEF Regional Director for Middle East and North Africa Geert Cappelaere visited Yemen from 29 October through 1 November 2018. As of 30 October 2018, over 11 million children â€“ 80 per cent of all children in the country â€“ require humanitarian assistance, due to the impact of the ongoing conflict. Worsening years of underdevelopment, attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure and lack of salary payments for most civil servants have pushed basic services for children to the brink. Children face food shortages, disease, displacement and an acute lack of access to basic social services. One out of three children in Yemen is at risk of acute malnutrition. Â© UNICEF/UN0253574/Abdulhaleem Unicef/Abdulhaleem

Over 57,000 people have been killed due to the fighting while thousands more have perished due to hunger according to estimates by Associated Press.

Last month Save the Children warned that as many as 85,000 children have likely starved to death since the start of the conflict and thousands more were at risk of perishing.

The United Nations estimates that 14 million people could be fatally malnourished if the war does not stop. Three-quarters of the population, meanwhile, rely on aid to survive.

The worst cases are in Hodeidah, where food prices have soared by as much as 400 per cent, according to local residents.

Malnutrition centre in Mukalla, Yemen provides care for children suffering hunger and famine

The international community is hoping Wednesday’s talks in Sweden will see an immediate end to the fighting and allow aid agencies to rescue trapped civilians.

The UN’s last attempt to hold talks collapsed in September when a demand by the Houthi rebels for their fighters to be treated in Oman or Europe was rejected.

But sources within Sanaa airport confirmed that 50 wounded rebels were waiting at the terminal ready to be transferred to Oman for treatment on Monday evening. The Saudi-led coalition said in a statement it had agreed on the evacuation for “humanitarian considerations and as part of confidence-building measures”.

On Tuesday the Houthi delegation was then expected to travel to Sweden via Oman.

The battle is in the heart of the city. Please tell them to stop fighting Ashwaq Moharram, Yemeni medic

In Sanaa, sources close to the Houthis said that few were optimistic about the negotiations.

One source said: “We have little hope for a peace deal, [the Saudi-led coalition] is carpet bombing Hodeidah city, so clearly they don’t want peace in Yemen. The coalition has continually lied, we are not optimistic.”

Sources within the Gulf coalition, that will not be participating in the Yemeni talks, meanwhile, expressed similar distrust.

A source said: “We hope the Houthis will attend the talks, which will be successful. We are for a political solution. The Houthis are under pressure right now because of the military action [in Hodeidah].”

Iran’s foreign ministry said it backs the talks and was ready to help find a political solution, Iranian state TV reported on Monday.

Ashwaq Moharram, right, attends to patients during one of the rounds of her mobile clinics (Ashwaq Moharram)

Western powers, which provide arms and intelligence to the coalition, have meanwhile piled pressure on both sides to stop the fighting.