US envoy to Yemen holds talks in London to revive peace efforts

US envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking meets with UK Minister for Middle East and North Africa James Cleverly in London. (Twitter/@JamesCleverly)
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Updated 28 January 2022
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US envoy to Yemen holds talks in London to revive peace efforts

  • Talks focused on the urgent need for de-escalation and to address economic stability and the humanitarian crisis in Yemen
  • US says has to fully consider humanitarian implications to designating Houthis as terrorist entity

LONDON: The US envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking held talks with senior UK and Gulf officials in London, as part of his first tour of 2022 to reinvigorate peace efforts in coordination with the UN.
During talks with the British Minister for Middle East and North Africa James Cleverly, the two sides stressed they are “committed to working together to advance a durable resolution to the Yemen conflict, help stabilize the economy, and support urgent steps to ease the humanitarian crisis.”
The US envoy also took part in a UK-hosted Quint meeting to discuss the situation in Yemen with senior representatives from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman and Britain, along with UN special envoy Hans Grundberg.

Lenderking was in Riyadh, the UAE and Oman last week, where he focused on the urgent need for de-escalation and the protection of all civilians, bringing the parties together to support a UN-led inclusive peace process, and doing more to address economic stability, humanitarian assistance access and fuel shortages, a State Department spokesperson told Arab News.
His visit comes as the Iran-backed Houthi militia have stepped up cross-border attacks against populated areas in Saudi Arabia and have attempted to strike the UAE capital twice in the last two weeks. The Houthis have also continued their brutal offensive on the Yemeni province of Marib, which has served as a safe haven for millions of internally displaced persons who have been fleeing the fighting since the conflict began in 2014.
The US has repeatedly pledged to continue to work with their partners in the region, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to help them defend against these deplorable Houthi attacks, the State Department said.

However, increased calls from regional allies are putting pressure on US President Joe Biden’s administration to relist the Houthis as a terrorist organization one year after it reversed a last-minute decision by former President Donald Trump to designate the militia.
“We will continue to work with our allies and partners in the region especially to promote accountability for the Houthis, for those Houthi leaders that have been behind these terrorist attacks,” the State Department said.
It added that the the Houthis’ redesignation as an “international terrorist organization” is “under review” and the US is expected to implement additional steps, including sanctions, to hold Houthi leaders accountable.
But when asked by Arab News about the possibility that the Biden administration will relist the militia, it said: “The United States remains committed to improving the humanitarian situation in Yemen and would have to fully consider the humanitarian implications.”
State Department spokesman Ned Price had also said that they not going to relent in designating Houthi leaders and entities involved in military offensives that threaten civilians and regional stability and perpetuate the conflict, who are responsible for some of the human rights abuses or the violations of international humanitarian law.
“When you talk about the humanitarian crisis, there is one actor that is primarily responsible for the suffering of the Yemeni people, the widespread suffering of the Yemeni people. And that is the Houthis,” Price told reporters at a press briefing.
He added they are using every appropriate tool to hold the Houthis to account.
The State Department reiterated the American condemnation of the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and the UAE and said it remained committed to solving the Yemeni conflict.
“Helping advance a durable resolution that ends the conflict in Yemen, improves Yemeni lives, and creates the space for Yemenis to collectively determine their own future remains a top US foreign policy priority,” it said.


Macron tours Egypt aid outpost for Gaza

Updated 9 sec ago
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Macron tours Egypt aid outpost for Gaza

  • Macron was in El-Arish, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the Gaza Strip
  • The French president said he would meet with sick Palestinians and medical professionals in El-Arish

EL-ARISH: French President Emmanuel Macron visited Egypt’s port city of El-Arish on Tuesday, a key transit point for Gaza-bound aid, to call on Israel to lift restrictions on humanitarian access to the war-battered Palestinian territory.
An AFP journalist said Macron was in El-Arish, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the Gaza Strip, along with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
Macron, who arrived in Cairo on Sunday, has said he would meet with sick Palestinians and medical professionals in El-Arish, an “outpost of humanitarian support for the civilian population of Gaza.”
The French leader is also expected to tour Red Crescent warehouses and meet with UN and aid representatives.
In a symbolic stop on his Egypt tour, Macron will call for “the reopening of crossing points for the delivery of humanitarian goods into Gaza,” a presidency statement said.
Israel cut off aid to Gaza in early March, during an impasse in negotiations to extend a truce with Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack triggered the war.
Later in March, after a two-month truce, Israel resumed intense bombardment across the Gaza Strip and restarted ground operations.
In Cairo, Macron, El-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II called for an “immediate return” to the ceasefire.
The three leaders met on Monday to discuss the war and humanitarian efforts to alleviate the suffering of Gaza’s 2.4 million people, the vast majority of whom have been displaced at least once during the war.
In a joint statement on Monday, the heads of several UN agencies said many Gazans are “trapped, bombed and starved again, while, at crossing points, food, medicine, fuel and shelter supplies are piling up, and vital equipment is stuck” outside of the besieged territory.


Dubai crown prince makes first official visit to India

Updated 12 min 34 sec ago
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Dubai crown prince makes first official visit to India

  • Sheikh Hamdan is scheduled to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

DUBAI: Dubai’s Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al-Maktoum arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday morning, leading a high-level delegation on his first official visit to India.

He was received at Indira Gandhi International Airport by India’s Minister of Tourism and Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi, with an official reception held in his honor.

During the visit, Sheikh Hamdan is scheduled to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior officials to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation across key sectors.

The visit reflects the UAE’s commitment to expanding strategic partnerships and promoting innovation and collaboration with global allies.


Paris makes jailed Erdogan rival honorary citizen

Updated 08 April 2025
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Paris makes jailed Erdogan rival honorary citizen

  • Mass protests have erupted in Turkiye after the March 19 arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu
  • He is widely seen as the only politician capable of challenging Erdogan at the ballot box

PARIS: The French capital on Tuesday made Istanbul’s jailed mayor a citizen of honor, with the city’s top official throwing her support behind the Turkish opposition figure.
Mass protests have erupted in Turkiye after the March 19 arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, a main rival to President Recip Tayyip Erdogan, on corruption charges his supporters say are false.
Widely seen as the only politician capable of challenging Erdogan at the ballot box, Imamoglu was elected as the opposition CHP party’s candidate for the 2028 election on the day he was jailed.
“Imamoglu is today unfairly prevented from representing his party and carrying the voice of millions of Turkish people,” Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo told the city council after it voted to make him a citizen of honor.
“Deprived of his freedom and his basic rights, he should be able to count on the full support of Paris,” said the Socialist, describing the French city as “the capital of human rights.”
This show of support “will perhaps allow the current Turkish authorities to hear the voices of democratic reason,” she added.
Hidalgo was among several European mayors who called for Imamoglu’s release last month.


Gaza rescuers say 19 killed in Israeli strikes overnight

Updated 17 min 7 sec ago
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Gaza rescuers say 19 killed in Israeli strikes overnight

  • Five children and four adults were killed in a strike that hit a home in the central city of Deir el-Balah

Gaza City, Palestinian Territories: Gaza’s civil defense agency said on Tuesday that Israeli strikes overnight killed at least 19 people across the Palestinian territory, where Israel has resumed its offensive against Hamas.
Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that “19 civilians including several children were martyred” and dozens more wounded in the latest Israeli raids.
Five children and four adults were killed in a strike that hit a home in the central city of Deir el-Balah, while two separate pre-dawn attacks on Gaza City and Beit Lahia in the north left a total of 10 people dead, Bassal said.
Separately, a media outlet affiliated with the Islamic Jihad movement, a Hamas ally, announced the death on Monday of an employee named Ahmed Mansur in an Israeli strike on a tent used by journalists in the Khan Yunis area.
The Hamas government media office had on Monday reported the death of journalist Hilmi Al-Faqaawi, who worked for a local news agency, in the same strike, which also wounded another nine.
The Israeli military meanwhile said the strike had targeted “Hamas terrorist Hassan Abdel Fattah Mohammed Aslih,” claiming that he operated “under the guise of a journalist and owns a press company.”
It said Aslih had “infiltrated Israeli territory and participated in the murderous massacre carried out by the Hamas terrorist organization” on October 7, 2023.
Israel resumed intense strikes on the Gaza Strip on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. Efforts to restore the truce have so far failed.
According to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, at least 1,391 Palestinians have been killed in the renewed Israeli operations, taking the overall death toll since the start of the war to 50,752.
Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.


Protests, shouting as Israel court hears petitions against security chief sacking

Updated 08 April 2025
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Protests, shouting as Israel court hears petitions against security chief sacking

  • Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last month that his government had unanimously approved a motion to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security agency
  • Bar has pushed back against the government’s move to sack him, dismissing Netanyahu’s arguments as “general, unsubstantiated accusations”

JERUSALEM: Israel’s top court began a hearing on Tuesday on the hotly contested decision to sack domestic security chief Ronen Bar, with protests from government supporters and critics briefly interrupting the proceedings.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last month that his government had unanimously approved a motion to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security agency, citing “lack of trust” and requiring Bar to leave his post by April 10.
The hearing on Tuesday follows petitions filed by opposition parties and non-profit groups, challenging the legality of the government’s move which the Supreme Court had already frozen until a ruling was made.
Protests were held outside the Jerusalem courtroom, and inside, shouts and interruptions forced the judges to halt proceedings after only 30 minutes.
“No court in the world is run this way,” said Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit after warning government supporters and critics who interrupted the hearing, which is broadcast live.
Amit called for a recess, during which scuffles between the sides continued outside the courtroom.
The hearing resumed about an hour later, with no audience, “to allow the right to argue without fear for all parties involved,” according to the judges.
Attorney Zion Amir, representing the government, said that “this is purely a political petition.”
The judges will likely issue a decision later in the week, according to media reports.
Bar has pushed back against the government’s move to sack him, dismissing Netanyahu’s arguments as “general, unsubstantiated accusations” motivated by “personal interest.”
Bar said the decision was meant to “prevent investigations into the events leading up to October 7 and other serious matters” being looked at by the Shin Bet, referring to the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who is due to address the court, has also cautioned that ousting Bar was “tainted by a personal conflict of interest on the part of the prime minister due to the criminal investigations involving his associates.”
Baharav-Miara was referring to a case dubbed by media as “Qatargate” involving Netanyahu’s close advisers under investigation for allegedly receiving money from Qatar.
Tomer Naor, from the Movement for Quality Government in Israel which submitted one of the petitions, told AFP that “Netanyahu is under a severe conflict of interest.”
He said the group had petitioned the court to “remind that Ronen Bar is the head of the Shin Bet (and) is in charge of the investigation into ‘Qatargate’.”
Dov Halbertal, a lawyer who came to watch the hearing, said that “Netanyahu is the ruler, he can fire whoever he wants, especially this Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet that is responsible for the massacre” of October 7, 2023.
The fact that the court was hearing the petitions was “anti-democracy,” he said.
Baharav-Miara, who has often clashed with the Netanyahu administration over the independence of the judiciary, said that firing Bar could lead to the politicization of the powerful position.
Appointed Shin Bet chief in October 2021 by the previous government, led by opponents of Netanyahu, Bar has clashed with the long-serving incumbent since his return to power in late 2022.
Bar was critical of a government proposal to reform the judiciary, which drew hundreds of thousands of Israelis onto the streets in protest and was temporarily shelved when the Gaza war began with Hamas’s attack.
Bar, who was only meant to end his tenure next year, had suggested he would consider stepping down early due to his part in failing to prevent the October 7 attack, but only once the war is over and the hostages held in Gaza are freed.