More than seven years into a conflict that has created “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” according to the United Nations, there are signs that the war in Yemen may be finally turning a corner. A two-month ceasefire that went into effect on April 2 has largely held, and after a flurry of negotiations that went down to the wire, the warring parties agreed last Thursday to extend the truce for another two months.

While the initial ceasefire offered a tentative diplomatic opening for the Yemeni government and its Saudi-led allies to engage with the Houthi rebel movement that controls most of northern Yemen, Thursday’s extension must go further if it is to be successful. The parties will have to patch the lingering holes in the April agreement and take substantive steps to finally end this destructive war. Only a permanent cessation of hostilities can resolve the humanitarian crisis and bring desperately needed relief to the Yemeni people.

Yemen’s April ceasefire, the first nationwide peace since the war began, was the product of United Nations–brokered talks between the rebels and the pro-government coalition that initially focused on a security truce for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The talks ultimately achieved a more comprehensive deal whose main provisions included: