AL-MUKALLA: A Yemeni court in the central province of Marib has sentenced five Houthis to death for undermining security in government-controlled areas.
The military court from the Marib-based 3rd Military Region on Sunday ruled that the operatives — who were part of a Houthi cell uncovered last year — had plotted to assassinate military and security officers, planted improvised explosive devices (IEDs), blown up military equipment, and trained armed gangs in government-controlled areas, state news agency SABA reported.
State media identified only one of the five convicted operatives, Taher Ali Al-Marhabi. A sixth member of the cell was acquitted of the charges.
Local Yemeni officers have long blamed Houthi sleeper cells in liberated areas for a string of assassinations and explosions and for sending information on the locations and movements of military commanders to their seniors in Sanaa and Saada.
The same military court ordered the military prosecution in Marib to question 180 senior members of the Iran-backed Houthi movement, including Abdul Malik Al-Houthi and his brothers, who were previously charged with forming an armed group that overthrew the government, colluded with other countries, and killed people.
In July, a court in Marib held the initial session of the trial of Houthi leaders accused of masterminding the coup against the internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in 2015 and the subsequent military campaign.
In Sanaa, a court operated by the Houthis, ordered on Sunday confiscating properties and freezing the bank accounts of 75 military and security officers for backing the internationally recognized government of Yemen and the Arab coalition military operations in Yemen. Among the convicted officers were commanders of military regions and army troops battling Houthis in Marib and Jouf, and senior officers at the Ministry of Interior.
Over recent years, the Houthis have sentenced Yemen’s president, his deputy, the prime minister, and hundreds of military and civilian officials to death and stormed their properties in Sanaa and other areas under their control in northern Yemen.
Yemeni analysts believe the Houthis are blackmailing those officials into joining their movement. Other experts think the cash-strapped Houthis might sell confiscated properties to fund their military activities across Yemen.
A pro-government officer who was recently convicted by a Houthi court told Arab News on Monday that a private bank based in Sanaa froze his bank account, and he advised Yemeni activists who openly criticized the Houthis not to open accounts with banks based in Houthi-controlled areas.
“I do not have any property in Sanaa. The bank told me my account was frozen by the bank’s HQ in Sanaa,” said the officer, who lives in a liberated city in southern Yemen, and wished to remain anonymous.
“This is a war. The Houthis get even with those officers who support the legitimate government by targeting their properties,” he added.
Meanwhile, fierce fighting between government forces and Houthis broke out on Sunday and Monday as the army announced it had killed, wounded, and captured dozens of rebel fighters in Jouf and Marib.
The heaviest fighting was reported in the northern province of Jouf where government forces announced liberating a chain of mountains after killing more than 20 Houthis and capturing 37 others.
State media showed images of burnt military vehicles abandoned by the fleeing Houthis and government pickups carrying almost two dozen captured Houthi fighters.
Maj. Gen. Ameen Al-Waili, the acting commander of the 6th Military Region, told state media that army troops and allied tribesmen, backed by air cover from Arab coalition warplanes, had inflicted heavy blows to the Houthis on battlefields in Jouf by killing and capturing dozens of their fighters.
He said that his troops had liberated a large swathe of land east of Hazen, the capital of Jouf, as warplanes destroyed 10 Houthi military vehicles.
Military commanders added that current military operations outside Hazem were aimed at cutting off Houthi supply lines and wearing down the group’s manpower before storming the city.
Yemeni court sentences 5 Houthi operatives to death as fighting rages
https://arab.news/zq4wd
Yemeni court sentences 5 Houthi operatives to death as fighting rages
- Houthi sleeper cells in liberated areas blamed for string of assassinations, explosions and espionage
First war-time aid convoy reaches besieged south Khartoum
CAIRO: Civilians in a besieged area south of Sudan’s war-torn capital received their first aid convoy this week since the war began 20 months ago, local volunteers said.
A total of 28 trucks arrived in the Jebel Awliya area, just south of Khartoum, the state’s emergency response room (ERR), part of a volunteer network coordinating frontline aid across Sudan, said Friday.
The convoy included 22 trucks carrying food from the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), one truck from Doctors Without Borders and Care, and five trucks loaded with medicine from the UN children’s agency, UNICEF.
The local group and UNICEF said the supplies would help meet the “urgent health and nutrition needs of an estimated 200,000 children and families.”
Jebel Awliya is one of many areas across Sudan facing mass starvation after warring parties cut off access.
Since the war began in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, nothing has gone in or out without both parties’ approval.
ERR volunteers endured months of negotiations, constant suspicion and threats of violence to secure even limited access.
“Access to the area has been essentially cut off due to the conflict dynamics,” UNICEF’s Sudan representative Sheldon Yett said, adding it took three months of talks to get the convoy through.
“The trucks were detained on more than one occasion, and drivers were understandably reluctant given the risks involved,” he told AFP.
The lack of access has also prevented experts from making an official famine declaration in Khartoum.
Famine has already taken hold in five areas of Sudan, a UN-backed report said this week.
The WFP says parts of Khartoum and Al-Jazira state, just to the south, may already be experiencing famine conditions, but it is impossible to confirm without reliable data.
Across the country, more than 24.6 million people — around half the population — are facing high levels of acute food insecurity.
Both sides have been accused of using starvation as a weapon of war against civilians.
The war has killed tens of thousands and uprooted more than 12 million people, causing one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
Israeli forces detain director of north Gaza hospital, health officials say
- Dozens of the medical staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital detained for interrogation
- Palestinian militant group Hamas denied its fighters were present in the hospital
GAZA STRIP: Gaza health officials said on Saturday that Israeli forces detained the director of a hospital in the north, which the World Health Organization said was put out of service by an Israeli raid.
“The occupation forces have taken dozens of the medical staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital to a detention center for interrogation, including the director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh,” the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said in a statement.
The Gaza civil defense agency also reported that Abu Safiyeh had been detained, adding that the agency’s director for the north, Ahmed Hassan Al-Kahlout was among those held.
“The occupation has completely destroyed the medical, humanitarian, and civil defense systems in the north, rendering them useless,” Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defense agency, told AFP.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it had launched an operation in the area of Kamal Adwan Hospital, alleging the facility was a “key stronghold for terrorist organizations.”
Palestinian militant group Hamas denied its militants were present in the hospital, and charged that Israeli forces had stormed the facility on Friday.
The World Health Organization, meanwhile, said the Israeli military operation had put the hospital out of service.
“This morning’s raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital has put this last major health facility in north Gaza out of service. Initial reports indicate that some key departments were severely burnt and destroyed during the raid,” the WHO said in a statement on X.
Humanitarian disaster in Yemen could get even worse if attacks by Israel continue, UN warns
- Israeli strikes on air and sea ports, and continuing detentions by the Houthis cause great anxiety among aid workers, UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Yemen tells Arab News
- Israeli warplanes struck the international airport in Sanaa on Thursday, as well as seaports and power stations on the Red Sea coast, killing at least 4 people
NEW YORK CITY: The humanitarian crisis in Yemen, already one of the most dire in the world, threatens to get even worse should Israel continue to attack Hodeidah seaport and Sanaa airport and puts them out of action, the UN warned on Friday.
Julien Harneis, the organization’s resident and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said the number of people in the country in need of aid to survive is expected to reach 19 million in the coming year.
Speaking from Sanaa, he said Yemen, the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, has the second-highest number of malnourished children of any nation, and ranks third in terms of food insecurity.
The civil war there, which has dragged on for nearly a decade, has decimated the economy and left millions of civilians without access to the basic necessities of life, he added. The country is in the throes of a “survival crisis” and the number of people unable to access healthcare services is one of the highest in the world.
On Thursday, Israeli warplanes struck the international airport in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, as well as seaports and power stations on the Red Sea coast, killing at least four people. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the attacks were a response to more than a year of missile and drone attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis, and were “just getting started.”
The Houthis began attacking Israel and international shipping lanes shortly after the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023. They have vowed to continue as long as the war goes on.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the Israeli airstrikes and said he was “gravely concerned” about the intensified escalation of hostilities. He said the strikes on the airport and seaports were “especially alarming,” and warned that they pose “grave risks to humanitarian operations” in the war-torn country.
Harneis, who was in the vicinity of the airport during the strikes, told of the destruction of its air traffic control tower, which left the facility temporarily nonoperational. A member of the UN staff was injured in the strike, and there were significant concerns about the safety of humanitarian workers in the area, he added. The airstrikes took place while a Yemeni civilian airliner was landing, additionally raising fears for the safety of passengers.
The airport is a critical hub for the delivery of humanitarian aid, and a key departure point for Yemenis seeking medical treatment abroad. Harneis said destruction of the airport would have far-reaching implications for international aid operations and the ability of Yemenis to access life-saving healthcare.
Hodeidah seaport is another focal point for humanitarian efforts in Yemen, with 80 percent of the country’s food and 95 percent of medical supplies arriving through this gateway. The recent airstrikes, which damaged tugs used to guide large ships, have reduced the port’s capacity by 50 percent.
“Any damage to this crucial facility would only deepen the suffering of the Yemeni population,” Harneis warned. He also reiterated that the one of the UN’s tasks is to ensure the harbor is used solely for civilian purposes in accordance with international law.
In addition to the immediate physical dangers airstrikes pose to its staff, the UN is also grappling with the detention of 17 of its workers by the Houthis, which casts another shadow over humanitarian operations.
Harneis said the UN has been in negotiations with the Houthis in Sanaa and continues to work “tirelessly” to secure the release of detained staff.
About 3,000 UN employees are currently working in Yemen, Harneis told Arab News, and the ongoing detentions and the threat of further airstrikes continue to create an atmosphere of anxiety. Given these risks, the emotional toll on staff is significant, he said.
“Many colleagues were very anxious about even coming to the office or going out on field missions. It’s very heavy for everyone,” he added.
Though there have been some improvements in operating conditions for humanitarian workers in recent months, Harneis said that when staff see that 16 of their colleagues are still detained “there’s obviously a great deal of anxiety.”
He added: “Then if you add in to that air strikes and the fear of more airstrikes, there is the fear of what’s going to happen next? Are we going to see attacks against bridges, roads, electricity systems? What does that mean for them?”
Despite the challenges to aid efforts, Harneis stressed that as the situation continues to evolve it is the response from the international community that will determine whether or not Yemen can avoid descending even more deeply into disaster.
Israel says intercepted missile from Yemen, day after Sanaa hit with strikes
- Israeli raids on Thursday also targeted the adjacent Al-Dailami air base, which shares Sanaa airport’s runway
SANAA: The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen early Saturday, a day after the Houthi-held capital Sanaa was hit by fresh air strikes.
Sirens sounded in areas of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea on Saturday as “a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted... prior to crossing into Israeli territory,” the Israeli military said.
The day before, a fresh air strike hit Sanaa, which Houthi rebels blamed on “US-British aggression” though it remains unclear who was behind it.
There was no comment from Israel, the United States or Britain.
“I heard the blast. My house shook,” one Sanaa resident told AFP late Friday.
The Iran-backed Houthis control large parts of Yemen after seizing Sanaa and ousting the government in 2014.
Since the eruption of war in Gaza in October last year, the Houthis — claiming solidarity with Palestinians — have fired a series of missiles and drones at Israel.
They have stepped up their attacks since November’s ceasefire between Israel and another Iran-backed group, Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel has also struck Yemen, including targeting Sanaa’s international airport on Thursday in an attack that came as the head of the World Health Organization was about to board a plane.
The Houthis have also attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea, prompting reprisal strikes by the United States and sometimes Britain.
Earlier Friday, before the strike on Sanaa, tens of thousands of people gathered to protest and express solidarity with Palestinians.
“The equation has changed and has become: (targeting) airport for airport, port for port, and infrastructure for infrastructure,” Houthi supporter Mohammed Al-Gobisi said.
“We will not get tired or bored of supporting our brothers in Gaza.”
Israel’s strike on the Sanaa international airport on Thursday shattered windows and left the top of the control tower a bombed-out shell.
A witness told AFP that the raids also targeted the adjacent Al-Dailami air base, which shares the airport’s runway.
“The attack resulted in four dead until now and around 20 wounded from staff, airport and passengers,” Houthi Deputy Transport Minister Yahya Al-Sayani said.
It occurred as the head of the UN’s World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was preparing to fly out, and left one UN crew member injured.
Tedros was in Yemen to seek the release of UN staff detained for months by the Houthis, and to assess the humanitarian situation. He later posted on social media that he had safely reached Jordan with his team.
He said the injured member of the UN’s Humanitarian Air Service “underwent successful surgery and is now in stable condition.”
Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they knew at the time that the WHO chief was there.
An Israeli statement said its targets included “military infrastructure” at the airport and power stations in Sanaa and Hodeida — a major entry point for humanitarian aid — as well as other facilities at several ports.
Houthis use these sites “to smuggle Iranian weapons into the region and for the entry of senior Iranian officials,” the statement said.
But UN humanitarian coordinator Julien Harneis said the airport was “a civilian location” which the UN also uses, and the strikes took place as “a packed civilian airliner from Yemenia Air, carrying hundreds of Yemenis, was about to land.”
Although the plane “was able to land safely... it could have been far, far worse,” Harneis said.
In his latest warning to the Houthis, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s strikes would “continue until the job is done.”
“We are determined to cut this branch of terrorism from the Iranian axis of evil,” he said in a video statement.
Despite the damage, flights at Sanaa airport resumed at 10 am (0700 GMT) on Friday, deputy transport minister Sayani said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced the escalation in hostilities, and said bombing transportation infrastructure threatened humanitarian operations in Yemen, where 80 percent of the population depends on aid.
The United Nations has called Yemen “the largest humanitarian crisis in the world,” with 24.1 million people in need of humanitarian aid and protection.
The airport is “absolutely vital” to continue transporting aid for Yemen, UN humanitarian coordinator Harneis said.
“If that airport is disabled, it will paralyze humanitarian operations.”
After the attack on Sanaa airport, Houthis said they fired a missile at Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv and launched drones at the city and a ship in the Arabian Sea.
The Israeli military said the same day a missile launched from Yemen had been intercepted.
Israeli “aggression will only increase the determination and resolve of the great Yemeni people to continue supporting the Palestinian people,” a Houthi statement said Friday.
Humanitarian disaster in Yemen could get even worse if attacks by Israel continue, UN warns
- Israeli strikes on air and sea ports, and continuing detentions by the Houthis cause great anxiety among aid workers, UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Yemen tells Arab News
- Israeli warplanes struck the international airport in Sanaa on Thursday, as well as seaports and power stations on the Red Sea coast, killing at least 4 people
NEW YORK CITY: The humanitarian crisis in Yemen, already one of the most dire in the world, threatens to get even worse should Israel continue to attack Hodeidah seaport and Sanaa airport and puts them out of action, the UN warned on Friday.
Julien Harneis, the organization’s resident and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said the number of people in the country in need of aid to survive is expected to reach 19 million in the coming year.
Speaking from Sanaa, he said Yemen, the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, has the second-highest number of malnourished children of any nation, and ranks third in terms of food insecurity.
The civil war there, which has dragged on for nearly a decade, has decimated the economy and left millions of civilians without access to the basic necessities of life, he added. The country is in the throes of a “survival crisis” and the number of people unable to access healthcare services is one of the highest in the world.
On Thursday, Israeli warplanes struck the international airport in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, as well as seaports and power stations on the Red Sea coast, killing at least four people. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the attacks were a response to more than a year of missile and drone attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis, and were “just getting started.”
The Houthis began attacking Israel and international shipping lanes shortly after the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023. They have vowed to continue as long as the war goes on.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the Israeli airstrikes and said he was “gravely concerned” about the intensified escalation of hostilities. He said the strikes on the airport and seaports were “especially alarming,” and warned that they pose “grave risks to humanitarian operations” in the war-torn country.
Harneis, who was in the vicinity of the airport during the strikes, told of the destruction of its air traffic control tower, which left the facility temporarily nonoperational. A member of the UN staff was injured in the strike, and there were significant concerns about the safety of humanitarian workers in the area, he added. The airstrikes took place while a Yemeni civilian airliner was landing, additionally raising fears for the safety of passengers.
The airport is a critical hub for the delivery of humanitarian aid, and a key departure point for Yemenis seeking medical treatment abroad. Harneis said destruction of the airport would have far-reaching implications for international aid operations and the ability of Yemenis to access life-saving healthcare.
Hodeidah seaport is another focal point for humanitarian efforts in Yemen, with 80 percent of the country’s food and 95 percent of medical supplies arriving through this gateway. The recent airstrikes, which damaged tugs used to guide large ships, have reduced the port’s capacity by 50 percent.
“Any damage to this crucial facility would only deepen the suffering of the Yemeni population,” Harneis warned. He also reiterated that the one of the UN’s tasks is to ensure the harbor is used solely for civilian purposes in accordance with international law.
In addition to the immediate physical dangers airstrikes pose to its staff, the UN is also grappling with the detention of 17 of its workers by the Houthis, which casts another shadow over humanitarian operations.
Harneis said the UN has been in negotiations with the Houthis in Sanaa and continues to work “tirelessly” to secure the release of detained staff.
About 3,000 UN employees are currently working in Yemen, Harneis told Arab News, and the ongoing detentions and the threat of further airstrikes continue to create an atmosphere of anxiety. Given these risks, the emotional toll on staff is significant, he said.
“Many colleagues were very anxious about even coming to the office or going out on field missions. It’s very heavy for everyone,” he added.
Though there have been some improvements in operating conditions for humanitarian workers in recent months, Harneis said that when staff see that 16 of their colleagues are still detained “there’s obviously a great deal of anxiety.”
He added: “Then if you add in to that air strikes and the fear of more airstrikes, there is the fear of what’s going to happen next? Are we going to see attacks against bridges, roads, electricity systems? What does that mean for them?”
Despite the challenges to aid efforts, Harneis stressed that as the situation continues to evolve it is the response from the international community that will determine whether or not Yemen can avoid descending even more deeply into disaster.
