Yemen troops seize key Al-Bayda area as Houthis flee

Yemen’s government on Saturday launched a military offensive to seize control of Al-Bayda after regional and international mediators failed to convince the Houthis. (AP)
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Updated 07 July 2021
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Yemen troops seize key Al-Bayda area as Houthis flee

  • Military gains in the province will deplete Houthi strength and give government troops a morale boost

ALEXANDRIA: Yemeni troops and local tribesmen, backed by Arab coalition air support, seized a key area in the central province of Al-Bayda and advanced on the provincial capital after Houthi fighters fled the battlefield, a Yemen army spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Maj. Gen. Abdul Abdullah Majili told reporters in the central city of Marib that the Houthis suffered heavy setbacks in Al-Bayda province with rebel fighters abandoning their positions and fleeing to neighboring Sanaa and Dhamar.

Majili said that government troops seized control of Al-Zaher district and surrounding areas, and battled militia fighters close to Al-Bayda city, the province’s capital.

Dozens of Houthis were killed, and troops retrieved tanks and military vehicles, he added.

“The army and resistance forces managed to liberate, take control and secure the center of the district of Al-Zaher, as well as the areas of Al-Khulwa and Al-Rawda, and advance toward the city of Al-Bayda,” Majili said.

Yemen’s government on Saturday launched a military offensive to seize control of Al-Bayda after regional and international mediators failed to convince the Houthis to accept a UN-brokered peace initiative.

Marching from neighboring Marib and Abyan, as well as government-controlled areas in the province, troops and tribesmen liberated several military locations and villages in the past three days.

Amateur videos circulating on social media showed what appeared to be fighters and displaced people cheerfully firing their weapons after returning to their homes for the first time since 2015 when the province fell to the Houthis early in their advance across Yemen.

Videos also showed local fighters driving armed vehicles, and retrieving ammunition and rockets abandoned by the Houthis.

Bodies of slain militia fighters were seen scattered across the battlefields.

For the first time in years, different military units, including southern Yemen separatists, took part in the military operations in Al-Bayda.

The Giant Brigade, a major military unit battling the Houthis on the country’s western coast, said on Monday that it reinforced government troops in Al-Bayda with fighters and military equipment.

Tribesmen from neighboring provinces also joined the fighting along with anti-Houthi forces.

Al-Bayda is close to Sanaa, Ibb and Thamar, and might allow government troops to open a new front in Sanaa province.

“Al-Bayda is southeast of the capital Sanaa, and is the shortest and easiest way to reach the city,” Col. Abdul Basit Al-Baher, a Yemeni military official, said.

Military gains in the province will deplete Houthi strength and give government troops a morale boost, he added.

Nadwa Al-Dawsari, a Yemeni conflict analyst and non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute, said that the Al-Bayda offensive will relieve pressure on government troops battling Houthis in Marib and push the militia into accepting peace proposals.  

“This offensive will force the Houthis to redeploy some of their forces to defend Al-Bayda. Retaking Al-Bayda will weaken them militarily, which might force them to rethink their maximalist position in the negotiations,” she said.


Iraq launches its first national census in nearly four decades

Updated 9 sec ago
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Iraq launches its first national census in nearly four decades

  • The census will be the first to employ advanced technologies for gathering and analyzing data, providing a comprehensive picture of Iraq’s demographic, social, and economic landscape
BAGHDAD: Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades Wednesday, a step aimed at modernizing data collection and planning in a country long impacted by conflict and political divisions.
The act of counting the population is also contentious. The census is expected to have profound implications for Iraq’s resource distribution, budget allocations and development planning.
Minority groups fear that a documented decline in their numbers will bring decreased political influence and fewer economic benefits in the country’s sectarian power-sharing system.
The count in territories such as Kirkuk, Diyala and Mosul — where control is disputed between the central government in Baghdad and the semi-autonomous Kurdish regional government in the north — has drawn intense scrutiny.
Ali Arian Saleh, the executive director of the census at the Ministry of Planning, said agreements on how to conduct the count in the disputed areas were reached in meetings involving Iraq’s prime minister, president and senior officials from the Kurdish region.
“Researchers from all major ethnic groups — Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, and Christians — will conduct the census in these areas to ensure fairness,” he said.
The last nationwide census in Iraq was held in 1987. Another one held in 1997 excluded the Kurdish region.
The new census “charts a developmental map for the future and sends a message of stability,” Planning Minister Mohammed Tamim said in a televised address.
The census will be the first to employ advanced technologies for gathering and analyzing data, providing a comprehensive picture of Iraq’s demographic, social, and economic landscape, offiials say. Some 120,000 census workers will survey households across the country, covering approximately 160 housing units each over two days.
The Interior Ministry announced a nationwide curfew during the census period, restricting movement of citizens, vehicles and trains between cities, districts and rural areas, with exceptions for humanitarian cases.
The count will be carried out using the “de jure” method, in which people are counted in their usual area of residence, Saleh said.
That means that people internally displaced by years of war will be counted in the areas where they have since settled, not in their original communities. The census will not include Iraqis residing abroad or those forcibly displaced to other countries.
Saleh estimated Iraq’s population at 44.5 million and said the Kurdish region’s share of the national budget — currently 12 percent — is based on an estimated population of 6 million. The census will also clarify the number of public employees in the region.
By order of Iraq’s federal court, the census excluded questions about ethnicity and sectarian affiliation, focusing solely on broad religious categories such as Muslim and Christian.
“This approach is intended to prevent tensions and ensure the census serves developmental rather than divisive goals,” Saleh said. The census will be monitored by international observers who will travel across Iraq’s provinces to assess the data quality, he said.
Hogr Chato, director of the Irbil-based Public Aid Organization, said the census will reshape the map of political thinking and future decision making.
“Even though some leaders deny it, the data will inevitably have political and economic implications,” he said. “It’s also fair to allocate budgets based on population numbers, as areas with larger populations or those impacted by war need more resources.”
Chato said he believes the delays in conducting the census were not only due to security concerns but also political considerations. “There was data they didn’t want to make public, such as poverty levels in each governorate,” he said.
Ahead of the census, leaders in Iraq’s various communities urged people to be counted.
In Baghdad’s Adhamiyah district, Abdul Wahhab Al-Samarrai, preacher at Imam Abu Hanifa Mosque, urged citizens to cooperate with the census.
“This is a duty for every Muslim to ensure the rights of future generations,” he said in a Friday sermon the week before the count.

UN to vote again on Gaza ceasefire, US plans unclear

Updated 17 min 24 sec ago
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UN to vote again on Gaza ceasefire, US plans unclear

  • The few resolutions that the United States did allow to pass by abstaining stopped short of calling for an unconditional and permanent ceasefire
  • The latest draft of the resolution demands “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in the war between Israel and Hamas

United Nations: The UN Security Council is expected to vote Wednesday on another draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in its latest attempt to exert pressure to end the war.
But the draft could be blocked by the United States, Israel’s main ally.
The latest draft of the resolution demands “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in the war between Israel and Hamas and “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
The wording has angered Israel and raised fears of a US veto.
Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon has called the text “shameful,” adding: “We cannot allow the UN to tie the hands of the State of Israel from protecting its citizens, and we will not stop fighting until we return all the kidnapped men and women home.”
“For us, it has to be a linkage between a ceasefire and the release of hostages,” said Robert Wood, the deputy US ambassador. “It has been our principle position from the beginning and it still remains.”
The war was triggered by Palestinian group Hamas’s assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, a stunning cross-border raid that resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the death toll from the resulting war had reached 43,972 people, the majority civilians. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.
Of 251 hostages seized during the October 7 attack, 97 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Almost all of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced by the war, which has caused a humanitarian catastrophe.
Since the beginning of the war, the Security Council has struggled to speak with one voice, as the United States used its veto power several times, although Russia and China have as well.
The few resolutions that the United States did allow to pass by abstaining stopped short of calling for an unconditional and permanent ceasefire.
In March, the council called for a temporary ceasefire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but this appeal was ignored by the warring parties.
In June, the council pledged support for a multi-stage US ceasefire and hostage release plan that went nowhere.
Some diplomats have expressed hope that following Donald Trump’s election win on November 5, President Joe Biden might be more flexible in the few weeks he has left in power.
They imagined a possible repeat of events in December 2016 when then-president Barack Obama was finishing his second term and the council passed a resolution calling for a halt to Israeli settlement building in the occupied territories, a first since 1979.
The United States refrained from using its veto in this case, a break from traditional US support for Israel on the sensitive issue of settlements.
The draft being voted on Wednesday also calls for “safe and unhindered entry of humanitarian assistance at scale,” including in besieged northern Gaza, and denounces any attempt to starve the Palestinians.
The Palestinian delegation at the UN has suggested this text does not go far enough.
“Gaza’s fate will haunt the world for generations to come,” ambassador Riyad Mansour warned.
He said the only course of action for the council is to call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire under Chapter 7 of the UN charter.
That chapter allows the council to take steps to enforce its resolutions, such as sanctions, but the latest text makes no reference to this option.


Netanyahu says Israel offering $5 mn reward for each Gaza hostage freed

Updated 20 November 2024
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Netanyahu says Israel offering $5 mn reward for each Gaza hostage freed

  • During Oct. 7, 2023 attack which triggered war in Gaza, Hamas took 251 hostages
  • Of those, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 34 who have been confirmed dead

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel was offering a reward of $5 million to anybody who brings out a hostage held in Gaza.
“Anybody who brings out a hostage will find with us a secure way for them and their family to leave” Gaza, Netanyahu said in a video filmed inside the Palestinian territory, according to his office.
“We will also give them a reward of $5 million for each hostage.”
Wearing a helmet and a bullet-proof jacket, Netanyahu spoke with his back to the Mediterranean in the Netzarim Corridor, Israel’s main military supply route which carves the Gaza Strip in two just south of Gaza City.
“Anyone who dares to do harm to our hostages is considered dead — we will pursue you and we will catch up with you,” he said.
Accompanied by Defense Minister Israel Katz, Netanyahu underlined that one of Israel’s war aims remained that “Hamas does not rule in Gaza.”
“We are also making efforts to locate the hostages and bring them home. We won’t give up. We will continue until we’ve found them all, alive or dead.”
During Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack which triggered the war in Gaza, militants took 251 hostages. Of those, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 34 who have been confirmed dead.


Netanyahu says Israel offering $5 mn reward for each Gaza hostage freed

Updated 20 November 2024
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Netanyahu says Israel offering $5 mn reward for each Gaza hostage freed

  • “Anybody who brings out a hostage will find with us a secure way for them and their family to leave” Gaza, Netanyahu says

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel was offering a reward of $5 million to anybody who brings out a hostage held in Gaza.
“Anybody who brings out a hostage will find with us a secure way for them and their family to leave” Gaza, Netanyahu said in a video filmed inside the Palestinian territory, according to his office.
“We will also give them a reward of $5 million for each hostage.”
Wearing a helmet and a bullet-proof jacket, Netanyahu spoke with his back to the Mediterranean in the Netzarim Corridor, Israel’s main military supply route which carves the Gaza Strip in two just south of Gaza City.
“Anyone who dares to do harm to our hostages is considered dead — we will pursue you and we will catch up with you,” he said.
Accompanied by Defense Minister Israel Katz, Netanyahu underlined that one of Israel’s war aims remained that “Hamas does not rule in Gaza.”
“We are also making efforts to locate the hostages and bring them home. We won’t give up. We will continue until we’ve found them all, alive or dead.”
During Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack which triggered the war in Gaza, militants took 251 hostages. Of those, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 34 who have been confirmed dead.


Turkiye’s Erdogan says Israel’s Herzog was denied airspace en route to Azerbaijan

Updated 20 November 2024
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Turkiye’s Erdogan says Israel’s Herzog was denied airspace en route to Azerbaijan

  • “In light of the situation assessment and for security reasons, the President of the State has decided to cancel his trip to the Climate Conference in Azerbaijan,” the Israeli presidency said

ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkiye refused to allow Israeli President Isaac Herzog to use its airspace to attend the COP climate summit in Azerbaijan, highlighting Ankara’s stance amid tensions with Israel.
“We did not allow the Israeli president to use our airspace to attend the COP summit. We suggested alternative routes and other options,” Erdogan told reporters at the G20 Summit in Brazil.
Herzog ended up canceling the visit.
“In light of the situation assessment and for security reasons, the President of the State has decided to cancel his trip to the Climate Conference in Azerbaijan,” the Israeli presidency said. Israel launched a devastating war against Hamas in Gaza a year ago after the Palestinian Islamist group’s deadly cross-border attack.
Turkiye withdrew its ambassador in Israel for consultations after the Gaza war broke out, but has not officially severed its ties with Israel and its embassy remains open and operational.
“But whether he was able to go or not, I honestly don’t know,” Erdogan said on Herzog’s visit to Baku.
“On certain matters, as Turkiye, we are compelled to take a stand, and we will continue to do so,” he said.