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The war in Yemen is surging back to high levels of violence. Since peace talks failed in early August, ending a tenuous, four-month cease-fire, airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition have hit a hospital, school, and other civilian targets.

The result has been two-fold: The military escalation is adding to the soaring death toll of Yemen鈥檚 18-month conflict, which the United Nations last week revised up to 10,000, nearly doubling previous estimates.

And the surge of fighting has also made Yemen鈥檚 鈥渇orgotten war鈥� a little less forgotten. That could make the conflict more susceptible, analysts say, to a renewed UN push for peace agreed to last week by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Persian Gulf states. The plan would include phased disarmament, withdrawals, and a unity government.

Pressure is also coming from the US Congress, through a bid to block a $1.15 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia.

In a letter this week to President Barack Obama, some US lawmakers said that the strikes on civilian targets by Saudi Arabia 鈥� which has received extensive US military assistance in its Yemen campaign, from intelligence and targeting data to mid-air refueling of jet fighters 鈥� 鈥渕ay amount to war crimes.鈥�

But whatever plans and pressures are brought to bear on the conflict, the key to success still lies with the Yemenis themselves.

The Kerry proposal 鈥渁ddresses main concerns, breaks the stalemate, and has a good phased plan,鈥� says Hisham al-Omeisy, a political analyst in Yemen鈥檚 capital, Sanaa. 鈥淯nfortunately 鈥� parties involved trying to carve wiggle room may botch [the plan] in doing so.鈥�

"The new proposal actually has good prospects if fully accepted by all parties and adhered to,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut Yemenis know that no matter how good a proposal is, it's the various parties鈥� commitment that will define the success rate鈥�. So to be honest, prospects are still grim."

Does world want a 'rogue Yemen'?

In an interview published Friday, the Houthi leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi said a hurdle facing the talks is that 鈥渢he other party wants to achieve through the talks what it wanted to achieve through war,鈥� Reuters reported.

This week Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Reuters in China that the Houthis 鈥渨ill not be allowed to take over Yemen. Period."

Among the casualties of the recent strikes on civilian targets in Yemen has been the work of the aid agency Medecins Sans Fontieres (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders. MSF evacuated its staff from six hospitals in the north of the country after the Saudi-led coalition struck the Abs hospital. Nineteen people were killed in the fourth and deadliest attack on an MSF-run hospital in Yemen this year.

鈥淣ow there is some attention to Yemen, we would like to continue to push鈥� for a political solution, says Hassan Boucenine, the country director of MSF France, who has spent a year and a half in Yemen.

鈥淒o we really want to have a rogue Yemen, a destroyed country that will turn like Somalia?鈥� asks Mr. Boucenine, contacted in the southern port of Aden, adding that peace talks 鈥渕ust鈥� resume. 鈥淣ow this world is becoming smaller and smaller, issues that happen in Syria and Iraq hit the shores of Europe in a couple of months. Do we really want this again in Yemen?鈥�

The Saudi campaign

The impetus for Saudi Arabia鈥檚 latest military involvement in Yemen dates back to September 2014 when Houthi rebels, who practice a variant of Shiite Islam and are loosely supported by Iran, seized the capital and pushed the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi into exile. A Saudi-led Arab coalition, backed by the US, launched an air campaign against the Houthis in March 2015 in an effort to return President Hadi to the seat of power.

Operation Decisive Storm was meant to last a few weeks, but turned into a bloody stalemate that devastated the Arab world鈥檚 poorest country until April this year, when it was renamed Operation Restoring Hope and a relative cease-fire began. More than 2.5 million Yemenis are displaced, and UN figures from June indicate that half the population is living with 鈥渆mergency鈥� or 鈥渃risis鈥� levels of food insecurity.

Airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition have been responsible for roughly 60 percent of civilian casualties, the UN human rights office reported last week. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stepped up calls for both sides to stop the conflict, noting that 70 health facilities alone had been damaged or destroyed, and that civilians 鈥渁re paying the heaviest price.鈥�

The new push for peace may be a 鈥渓ast chance鈥� for Yemen to avoid an even more dangerous downward spiral, says Adam Baron, a Yemen expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

鈥淭he reason you are seeing more attention devoted to it now is simple: While the UN talks were going on, and while this tenuous cease-fire was in place, even when the situation was bad it was far better than it is now,鈥� says Mr. Baron.

If the new peace attempt fails, the framework will require 鈥渞adical reshaping,鈥� says Baron. 鈥淚f you see this escalation continuing one or two months from now, there really is going to be the question: What do we do now?鈥�

MSF condemnation

The strike on the MSF hospital in mid-August was a galvanizing event. Within days, MSF announced the withdrawals of its foreign staff. MSF said it had received repeated assurances from officials of the Saudi-led coalition and had 鈥渟ystematically鈥� shared the GPS coordinates of hospitals where its staff worked. In a statement, MSF said the attack showed a 鈥渇ailure 鈥� to avoid attacks on hospitals full of patients鈥� and said it was not satisfied the attack was a mistake.

MSF condemned all actors 鈥撀爐he Saudi-led coalition, and the Houthis and their local allies 鈥撀爁or carrying out 鈥渋ndiscriminate attacks without any respect for civilians.鈥�

The Saudi-led coalition expressed 鈥渄eep regret鈥� over MSF鈥檚 decision to evacuate.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not only about the security of our staff, it is also to protest and make a point about the targeting and destruction of hospitals,鈥� says MSF鈥檚 Mr. Boucenine.

鈥淲hat is not acceptable is that these mistakes are repeated, at some point something has to be done, [so] we really call on those who support the coalition, primarily on the United States,鈥� he says.

鈥淲e are not speaking about people fighting with bows and arrows, really it鈥檚 a high-tech war, with all that implies: GPS and satellites. It鈥檚 not possible that they can鈥檛 avoid 100 targets in the country, or 200 targets,鈥� adds Boucenine. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just not taken seriously, so we do not trust at all the process.鈥�

Moves in Congress

Into this mix, the US State Department on Aug. 8 notified Congress of a sale of tanks and other military equipment to Saudi Arabia, to partly offset losses in Yemen.

Some members of Congress have sought to delay the sale. The Saudi-led war 鈥渉as had a deeply troubling impact on civilians,鈥� they wrote this week, noting a June House vote to block the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia.

Amnesty International has documented 鈥渁t least鈥� 33 unlawful airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition that appeared to 鈥渄eliberately鈥� target civilians, which 鈥渕ay amount to war crimes,鈥� wrote the 64 US lawmakers.

鈥淭here鈥檚 an American imprint on every civilian life lost in Yemen,鈥� Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, told CNN on Aug. 16.

According to a confidential May report by the World Bank and UN, described in August by Reuters, the war in Yemen has cost more than $14 billion, led to a surge in civilian mortality rates, and wrecked the country鈥檚 economy and schools.

鈥淪trikes are more indiscriminate, which is quite telling of growing Saudi impunity after being emboldened by the UN and international community鈥檚 lack of action and condemnation,鈥� says Mr. Omeisy, the Sanaa analyst, about the new surge of strikes.

鈥淪audis [are] very sensitive about their public image鈥�. If countries can鈥檛 stop selling of arms in short run, at least be honest enough to officially and publicly condemn,鈥� he says. 鈥淣othing irks Yemenis more than the world playing dumb [amid] flagrant humanitarian law violations.鈥�