Gaza Christians can visit Christmas sites, Israel restricts tourism in Bethlehem

Visitors walk in the basilica at the Church of the Nativity, in the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, on Dec. 22, 2019. (AFP)
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Updated 22 December 2019
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Gaza Christians can visit Christmas sites, Israel restricts tourism in Bethlehem

  • Gaza Christians would be allowed to travel abroad but none would be permitted to go Israel or the occupied West Bank
  • Israeli tour operators don’t allow Bethlehem to truly benefit from the influx

JERUSALEM: Christians in the Gaza Strip will be allowed to visit holy cities such as Bethlehem and Jerusalem at Christmas, Israel authorities said on Sunday, reversing a decision not to issue them permits.
Israel tightly restricts movements out of the Gaza Strip, territory controlled by Hamas that it considers a terrorist organization.
In a break from its usual Christmas holiday policy, Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians said on Dec. 12 that in accordance with “security orders” Gaza Christians would be allowed to travel abroad but none would be permitted to go Israel or the occupied West Bank.
On Sunday, the liaison office, known as COGAT, announced on Twitter that its director has “extended the travel facilitations for the Christian population of Gaza for the Christmas holiday.”
As a result, COGAT said, “entry permits for Jerusalem and for the West Bank will be issued in accordance with security assessments and without regard to age.”
Gaza has only around 1,000 Christians, most of them Greek Orthodox, in a population of 2 million in the narrow coastal strip.
Last year, Israel granted permits for close to 700 Gaza Christians to travel to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and other holy cities that draw thousands of pilgrims each holiday season.
Christian leaders in Jerusalem had condemned the initial entry ban and said they would appeal to Israeli authorities to lift it.
Meanwhile, less than an hour after a group of Indian tourists arrive at Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, they exit smiling, directly board their bus and head back to Jerusalem.
The city where Christians believe Jesus was born is teeming with tourists — but the Christmas spirit is dampened by complaints that Israeli tour operators don’t allow the city to truly benefit from the influx.
While Bethlehem’s 50-odd hotels are fully booked during the peak season around Christmas Day, December 25, they struggle to ensure occupancy rates throughout the year.
Less than a third of the three million tourists who visit Bethlehem every year spend at least one night there, according to the Palestinian Hotel Association.
Most head straight back through the Israeli checkpoint and out of the occupied West Bank.
Palestinians accuse Israeli tour companies of seeking to undermine their business by organizing only fleeting visits.
In the search for more regular business, the small city, located between Jerusalem and Hebron in the southern West Bank, is looking to expand non-religious tourism.
Ironically, a major draw now is the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict itself, and the political street art it has spawned.
Especially the works of Banksy, the British spray-can maestro whose true identity remains a secret, have drawn many visitors and spawned a graffiti-themed tourism cottage industry.
In the square in front of the church that remains the main draw in Bethlehem, a Brazilian couple and their daughter were delighted to have visited the site as part of a three-week tour including Jerusalem and other cities.
“It was very fast, but it was enough,” said the mother before heading back to Jerusalem where they would stay the night.
A nearby trader lamented the fact tourists don’t bother to explore the city’s streets and markets.
“It is not that far away, they just have to cross the square,” he said.
Samir Hazboun, head of the Bethlehem chamber of commerce, said the city was trying to diversify its offerings.
Tourists “can visit many other cultural and historical places,” he said, pointing to the site of one of King Herod’s former palaces and the UNESCO-listed village of Battir.
Hazboun said many tourists did not stay longer because they visit with Israel-based travel agents that “control” the length of visits in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
Elias Al-Arja, president of the Palestinian Hotel Association, pointed out that while the number of hotels had increased fivefold in 20 years, infrastructure, in particular for water and power, still lags behind.
Beyond those looking for religion, Bethlehem is increasingly drawing tourists attracted to the street art.
Many come to admire the graffiti and stencil pictures on the separation barrier Israel began erecting in 2002 during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising.
Israel says the barrier, which near Bethlehem is a five-meter (16 foot) concrete wall, is needed to protect itself, while Palestinians label it an apartheid wall.
When AFP visited, a young European was rolling white paint onto the wall, giving him a clean surface to graffiti.
A few steps away, a shop sold spray cans and stencils for tourists wanting to leave a trace of their passage.
The store is owned by the adjoining “Walled-Off Hotel” which was opened in 2017 by Banksy.
All rooms in the hotel overlook the wall and are decorated with works about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is also the theme of a ground floor museum.
Wissam Salsaa, the hotel’s manager, said many guests had never dreamed of visiting Bethlehem or the West Bank until the hotel was established.
“Banksy has contributed a lot to non-classical tourism in Bethlehem,” he said, estimating that 250,000 people had visited the hotel in the two years since it opened.
These mostly young tourists normally come in small groups, not competing with the buses of often older tourists visiting the church. Some don’t even visit the religious sites.
Yet even these tourists often don’t stay.
Simon and Jan, two young Germans seated on the hotel’s terrace, said the museum was “very interesting” and allowed the uninitiated to familiarise themselves with the conflict.
They said they were only stopping by, though, and would spend the night in Tel Aviv.

(With AFP and Reuters)


Gaza strikes ‘unconscionable’, says UN humanitarian coordinator

Updated 6 sec ago
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Gaza strikes ‘unconscionable’, says UN humanitarian coordinator

  • “Waves of airstrikes occurred across the Gaza strip since the early hours of the morning ... This is unconscionable. A ceasefire must be reinstated immediately” Muhannad Hadi said in a statement
GENEVA: The United Nations’ Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory urged for the ceasefire in Gaza to be immediately reinstated after Israeli air strikes pounded the enclave on Tuesday, threatening a complete collapse of the two-month truce.
“Waves of airstrikes occurred across the Gaza strip since the early hours of the morning ... This is unconscionable. A ceasefire must be reinstated immediately” Muhannad Hadi said in a statement.

Gaza death toll rises as Israeli strikes shatter ceasefire with Hamas

Updated 18 March 2025
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Gaza death toll rises as Israeli strikes shatter ceasefire with Hamas

  • Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip killing at least 254 Palestinians, including women and children
  • The surprise attack shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing at least 254 Palestinians, including women and children, according to hospital officials. The surprise bombardment threatened to wreck the ceasefire in place since January and fully reignite the 17-month-old war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in talks to extend the ceasefire. Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel’s actions.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu’s office said.
The surprise attack shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and raised the prospect of a full return to fighting in a 17-month war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza. It also raised questions about the fate of the roughly two dozen Israeli hostages held by Hamas who are believed to still be alive.
A senior Hamas official said Netanyahu’s decision to resume the war amounts to a “death sentence” for the remaining hostages. Izzat Al-Risheq accused Netanyahu of launching the strikes to try and save his far-right governing coalition and called on mediators to “reveal facts” on who broke the truce.
The strikes came as Netanayahu comes under mounting domestic pressure, with mass protests planned over his handling of the hostage crisis and his decision to fire the head of Israel’s internal security agency. His latest testimony in a long-running corruption trial was canceled after the strikes.
Wounded stream into Gaza hospitals
A strike on a home in the southern city of Rafah killed 17 members of one family, including at least 12 women and children, according to the European Hospital, which received the bodies. The dead included five children, their parents, and another father and his three children, according to hospital records.
In the southern city of Khan Younis, Associated Press reporters saw explosions and plumes of smoke. Ambulances brought wounded people to Nasser Hospital, where patients lay on the floor, some screaming. A young girl cried as her bloody arm was bandaged.
Many Palestinians said they had expected a return to war when talks over the second phase of the ceasefire did not begin as scheduled in early February. Israel instead embraced an alternative proposal and cut off all shipments of food, fuel and other aid to the territory’s 2 million Palestinians to try to pressure Hamas to accept it.
“Nobody wants to fight,” Palestinian resident Nidal Alzaanin told the AP by phone from Gaza City. “Everyone is still suffering from the previous months,” he said.
At least 235 people were killed in the strikes overnight and into Tuesday, according to records from seven hospitals. The toll does not include bodies brought to other, smaller health centers, and rescuers were still searching for dead and wounded people.
US backs Israel and blames Hamas
The White House sought to blame Hamas for the renewed fighting. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the militant group “could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war.”
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the unfolding operation, said Israel was striking Hamas’ military, leaders and infrastructure and planned to expand the operation beyond air attacks. The official accused Hamas of attempting to rebuild and plan new attacks. Hamas militants and security forces quickly returned to the streets in recent weeks after the ceasefire went into effect.
Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said the “gates of hell will open in Gaza” if the hostages aren’t released. “We will not stop fighting until all of our hostages are home and we have achieved all of the war goals,” he said.
Talks on a second phase of the ceasefire had stalled
The strikes came two months after a ceasefire was reached to pause the war. Over six weeks, Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in a first phase of the ceasefire.
But since that ceasefire ended two weeks ago, the sides have not been able to agree on a way forward with a second phase aimed at releasing the 59 remaining hostages, 35 of whom are believed to be dead, and ending the war altogether.
Hamas has demanded an end to the war and full withdrawal of Israeli troops in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages. Israel says it will not end the war until it destroys Hamas’ governing and military capabilities and frees all hostages — two goals that could be incompatible.
Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday said Hamas had “repeatedly refused to release our hostages and rejected all offers it received from the US presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators.”
Taher Nunu, a Hamas official, criticized the Israeli attacks. “The international community faces a moral test: either it allows the return of the crimes committed by the occupation army or it enforces a commitment to ending the aggression and war against innocent people in Gaza,” he said.
Gaza already in a humanitarian crisis
The war erupted when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Most have been released in ceasefires or other deals, with Israeli forces rescuing only eight and recovering dozens of bodies.
Israel responded with a military offensive that killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and displaced an estimated 90 percent of Gaza’s population. The territory’s Health Ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and militants, but says over half of the dead have been women and children.
The ceasefire had brought some relief to Gaza and allowed hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to resume to what remained of their homes.
A renewed Israeli ground offensive could also be especially deadly now that so many Palestinian civilians have returned home. Before the ceasefire, civilians were largely concentrated in tent camps meant to provide relative safety from the fighting.
Netanyahu faces mounting criticism
The return to fighting could also worsen deep internal fissures inside Israel over the fate of the remaining hostages.
The released hostages, some of whom were emaciated, have repeatedly implored the government to press ahead with the ceasefire to return all remaining captives. Tens of thousands of Israelis have taken part in mass demonstrations calling for a ceasefire and return of all hostages.
Mass demonstrations are planned later Tuesday and Wednesday following Netanyahu’s announcement this week that he wants to fire the head of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency. Critics have lambasted the move as an attempt by Netanyahu to divert blame for his government’s failures in the Oct. 7 attack and handling of the war.
Since the ceasefire in Gaza began in mid-January, Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians who the military says approached its troops or entered unauthorized areas.
Still, the deal has tenuously held without an outbreak of wide violence. Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate the next steps in the ceasefire.
Israel wants Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Hamas instead wants to follow the ceasefire deal reached by the two sides, which calls for negotiations to begin on the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase, in which the remaining hostages would be released and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza.


Israel hits Gaza with new airstrikes that kill at least 200 after truce talks stall

Updated 18 March 2025
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Israel hits Gaza with new airstrikes that kill at least 200 after truce talks stall

  • Netanyahu says he ordered strikes because of lack of progress in talks to extend ceasefire
  • Hamas accuses Netanyahu of upending ceasefire, exposing hostages to "an unknown fate”

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, saying it was striking dozens of Hamas targets in its heaviest assault in the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January. Palestinian officials reported at least 200 deaths.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in talks to extend the ceasefire. Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel’s actions.

“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu’s office said.

The surprise attack shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and raised the prospect of a full return to fighting in a 17-month war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza. It also raised questions about the fate of the roughly two dozen Israeli hostages held by Hamas who are believed to still be alive.

Hamas accused Netanyahu of upending the ceasefire agreement and exposing the hostages “to an unknown fate.” In a statement, it called on mediators to hold Israel “fully responsible for violating and overturning the agreement.”

In the southern city of Khan Younis, Associated Press reporters saw explosions and plumes of smoke. Ambulances brought wounded people to Nasser Hospital, where patients lay on the floor, some screaming. A young boy sat with a bandage around his head as a health worker checked for more injuries, a young girl cried as her bloody arm was bandaged.

Many Palestinians said they had expected a return to war when talks over the second phase of the ceasefire did not begin as scheduled in early February. Israel instead embraced an alternative proposal and cut off all shipments of food, fuel and other aid to the territory’s 2 million Palestinians to try to pressure Hamas to accept it.

“Nobody wants to fight,” Palestinian resident Nidal Alzaanin said by phone from Gaza City. “Everyone is still suffering from the previous months,” he said.

US backs Israel and blames Hamas

The White House sought to blame Hamas for the renewed fighting. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the militant group “could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war.”

US envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been leading mediation efforts along with Egypt and Qatar, had earlier warned that Hamas must release living hostages immediately “or pay a severe price.”

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the unfolding operation, said Israel was striking Hamas’ military, leaders and infrastructure and planned to expand the operation beyond air attacks. The official accused Hamas of attempting to rebuild and plan new attacks. Hamas militants and security forces quickly returned to the streets in recent weeks after the ceasefire went into effect.

Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said the “gates of hell will open in Gaza” if the hostages aren’t released. “We will not stop fighting until all of our hostages are home and we have achieved all of the war goals,” he said.

Explosions could be heard throughout Gaza. Khalil Degran, a spokesman for the Health Ministry based at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza, said at least 200 people had been killed. The territory’s civil defense agency said its crews were having a difficult time carrying out rescue efforts because various areas were being targeted simultaneously.

Talks on a second phase of the ceasefire had stalled

The strikes came two months after a ceasefire was reached to pause the war. Over six weeks, Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in a first phase of the ceasefire.

But since that ceasefire ended two weeks ago, the sides have not been able to agree on a way forward with a second phase aimed at releasing the 59 remaining hostages, 35 of whom are believed to be dead, and ending the war altogether.

Hamas has demanded an end to the war and full withdrawal of Israeli troops in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages. Israel says it will not end the war until it destroys Hamas’ governing and military capabilities and frees all hostages.

Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened to resume the war.

“This comes after Hamas repeatedly refused to release our hostages and rejected all offers it received from the US presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators,” Netanyahu’s office said early Tuesday.

Taher Nunu, a Hamas official, criticized the Israeli attacks. “The international community faces a moral test: either it allows the return of the crimes committed by the occupation army or it enforces a commitment to ending the aggression and war against innocent people in Gaza,” he said.

Gaza already in a humanitarian crisis

The war erupted when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Most have been released in ceasefires or other deals, with Israeli forces rescuing only eight and recovering dozens of bodies.

Israel responded with a military offensive that killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and displaced an estimated 90 percent of Gaza’s population. The territory’s Health Ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and militants, but says over half of the dead have been women and children.

The ceasefire had brought some relief to Gaza and allowed hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to resume to what remained of their homes.

A renewed Israeli ground offensive could also be especially deadly now that so many Palestinian civilians have returned home. Before the ceasefire, civilians were largely concentrated in tent camps meant to provide relative safety from the fighting.

The return to fighting could also worsen deep internal fissures inside Israel over the fate of the remaining hostages. Many of the hostages released by Hamas returned emaciated and malnourished, putting heavy pressure on the government to extend the ceasefire.

The released hostages have repeatedly implored the government to press ahead with the ceasefire to return all remaining hostages, and tens of thousands of Israelis have taken part in mass demonstrations calling for a ceasefire and return of all hostages.


North Korea condemns US strikes against Yemen, KCNA says

Updated 18 March 2025
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North Korea condemns US strikes against Yemen, KCNA says

  • The large-scale US strikes were launched by President Donald Trump last week targeting Iran-aligned Houthis
  • Houthi-run health ministry said the strikes killed at least 53 people including women and children

SEOUL: North Korea condemned recent US strikes on Yemen as an act violating international law and a country’s sovereignty and said such a move could never be justified in any way, the North’s state media quoted on Tuesday its ambassador to Yemen as saying.
The large-scale US strikes were launched by President Donald Trump last week targeting Iran-aligned Houthis over the group’s attacks on Red Sea shipping. The Houthi-run health ministry said the strikes killed at least 53 people including women and children.
The North Korean ambassador, Ma Dong Hui, who the KCNA state news agency said was also Pyongyang’s envoy to Egypt, said Washington “indiscriminately” targeted civilians and property by mobilizing air and navy forces including an aircraft carrier.
“The military attack by the United States is a violent violation of the UN Charter and international law, and is a blatant infringement on the territorial sovereignty of another country that cannot be justified by any means,” Ma said.
“I express grave concern about the illegal and reckless military actions by the United States, which is obsessed with realizing geopolitical ambitions ... and I strongly condemn and reject them.”
The US Defense Department said the strikes hit more than 30 sites and involved fighter jets launched from a carrier in the Red Sea.


Houthis claim new attack on American warships, report new US strikes

Updated 12 min 16 sec ago
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Houthis claim new attack on American warships, report new US strikes

  • The Houthis said on Telegram they had targeted the USS Harry S. Truman carrier group with missiles and drones
  • Houthi media said fresh US strikes hit Yemen on Monday after tens of thousands demonstrated

SANAA: Iran-backed Houthis on Tuesday claimed their third attack on American warships in 48 hours, despite US strikes targeting the group in Yemen that have sparked mass protests.
The Houthis said on Telegram they had targeted the USS Harry S. Truman carrier group with missiles and drones, making the attack the “third in the past 48 hours” in the northern Red Sea.
A US defense official said the Houthis “continue to communicate lies and disinformation,” adding the Iran-backed group is “well known for false claims minimizing the results of our attacks while exaggerating the successes of theirs.”
A US Air Force official earlier said it was “hard to confirm” the attacks claimed by the Houthis as they were missing their targets “by over 100 miles.”
Houthi media said fresh US strikes hit Yemen on Monday after tens of thousands demonstrated in the capital Sanaa.
There were also large crowds in Saada, the birthplace of the Houthi movement, and demonstrations in Dhamar, Hodeida and Amran, footage from the rebels’ Al-Masirah TV station showed.
“Yemen will never back down — we defy the Americans, we defy the Zionists,” said a man shouting slogans to the Sanaa crowd.
The protests came after Washington launched a fresh campaign of air strikes on Yemen beginning Saturday, aiming to pressure the Houthis into ending their attacks on Red Sea shipping.
The Houthis have targeted ships traveling the major trade route since the start of the Gaza war, claiming solidarity with Palestinians.
The US strikes killed 53 people and wounded 98 on Saturday, according to the health ministry.
Al-Masirah channel and Saba press agency reported new US strikes on Monday night in the Hodeida and Al-Salif regions, while the Houthi Ansarollah website said strikes hit Sanaa early Tuesday.
Washington has vowed to keep hitting Yemen until the Houthis stop attacking shipping, with US President Donald Trump warning he will hold Iran accountable for any further attacks carried out by the Tehran-sponsored group.
“Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible,” Trump posted on social media.
Iran responded by calling his statement “belligerent.”
At the rally in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, giant flags punctuated a sea of demonstrators at Al-Sabeen Square, which has hosted large-scale demonstrations every week throughout the Gaza war.
Just two days ago, the Houthi-controlled capital was hit by heavy strikes, including in northern districts frequented by the leadership.
They were the first US strikes since Trump returned to office in January, and came despite a pause in the Houthis’ attacks coinciding with a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
The Pentagon said it had struck 30 targets in Yemen so far and vowed to use “overwhelming lethal force” to “restore freedom of navigation” in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz told ABC News that Saturday’s strikes “targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out.” The Houthis have not responded to Waltz’s claim.


The United Nations urged both sides to “cease all military activity,” while expressing concern over Houthi threats to resume the Red Sea attacks.
Before this weekend’s targeting of the US carrier group, the Houthis had not claimed any attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since January 19, when the ceasefire in Gaza began.
However, the group had threatened to resume its campaign over Israel’s blocking of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory.
It said it would “move to additional escalatory options” if the “American aggression” continued.
Trump, meanwhile, has warned the Yemeni group that “hell will rain down upon you” if it did not stop its attacks.
He has also broadened the warning to include Iran, saying it would “suffer the consequences” for shots fired by the Houthis.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier condemned the US strikes and said Washington had “no authority” to dictate Tehran’s foreign policy.


A database set up by ACLED, a non-profit monitor, showed more than 130 Houthi attacks against warships, commercial vessels, and Israeli and other targets since October 19, 2023.
While the Red Sea trade route normally carries around 12 percent of world shipping traffic, Houthi attacks have forced many companies into costly detours around southern Africa.
The United States had already launched several rounds of strikes on Houthi targets under former president Joe Biden.
Israel has also struck Yemen, most recently in December, after Houthi missile fire toward Israeli territory.
The rebels control large swathes of Yemen, including most of its population centers, after ousting the internationally recognized government from Sanaa.
They have been at war with a Saudi-led coalition backing the government since 2015, a conflict that has triggered a major humanitarian crisis.
Fighting has largely been on hold since a UN-brokered ceasefire in 2022, but the peace process has stalled following the Houthi attacks over Gaza.