国际英语新闻:Kerry Set for Security Talks with Gulf Ministers in Paris

Despite the airstrikes, the Houthis and forces loyal to a former President Ali Abdullah Saleh have remained entrenched in areas they seized earlier this year and on Wednesday took an important district in Aden.

Also Thursday, Kerry met separately with Saudi King Salman and Yemen’s exiled President Abdu Rabb Mansour Hadi, who fled to Saudi Arabia for his own safety.

Kerry and the Yemeni leader met at the ornate Al-Nasarieh Guest Palace.

After exchanging greetings, Hadi said, “Hopefully, we will see you in Sana’a soon.”

“Aaah,” said Kerry, “there is some work to do.”

Hadi has denounced what he called a “coup” by Houthi rebels, who occupied Sana’a last year and later placed him under house arrest. In February, Hadi fled to the southern port of Aden and then to Saudi Arabia.

Civilian deaths alleged

The cease-fire proposal comes as the Yemeni government and human rights groups condemn what they called dozens of civilian deaths at the hands of Houthi rebels.

Yemen's mission to the United Nations released a statement Wednesday that referred to the "latest barbaric events in Aden."

Yemen accused the Houthi militia of attacking civilians, including women and children, in the Tawahi neighborhood of Aden, killing more than 50 people who were trying to flee violence. They also accused the rebels and forces loyal to former leader Saleh of preventing medical teams from aiding the injured and of killing humanitarian workers.

Johannes Van Der Klaauw, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, also said in a statement: "I am gravely concerned by reports coming out of Yemen yesterday [Wednesday] with accounts of scores of people, many of them civilians and including women and children, being killed and injured in hostilities.

"Civilians were reportedly targeted while they were trying to flee to safer areas, having been trapped in Aden [for six weeks] with limited or no access to water, food and health care for weeks," his statement continued. "Violence towards civilians and aid workers, and attacks on hospitals and other civilian infrastructure, must stop immediately."

Human Rights Watch reported Thursday that pro-Houthi forces killed two civilians and illegally detained a group of aid workers last month in Aden.

"The difficulty of investigating the fighting in Yemen may mean abuses like these in Aden are just the tip of the iceberg," Joe Stark, HRW's Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement. "The onus is on all factions and on the Saudi-led coalition to take steps to abide by the laws of war."

HRW urged the Houthi rebels to avoid harming civilians and to investigate and punish any fighters responsible for abuses.