HODEIDAH: Firefighting teams on Monday were struggling to contain a massive blaze at Yemen’s Hodeida port, days after a deadly Israeli strike hit oil tanks and a power plant in the harbor.
Heavy flames and black smoke were seen spiralling into the sky for a third consecutive day following the strike on Saturday, said an AFP correspondent in Hodeidah.
Firefighting teams appear to have made little progress, with the blaze seemingly expanding in some parts of the port, the correspondent said, amid fears it could reach food storage facilities.
High-resolution satellite images taken by Maxar Technologies showed flames consuming a heavily damaged fuel storage area at the Hodeidah harbor.
The fuel depot is run by the Yemen Petroleum Company which said late Sunday that the six people killed in the Israel strike were its employees.
The Houthis say more than 80 others were wounded in the attack, many of them with severe burns.
With black smoke billowing overhead, a funeral ceremony was held Monday for the victims of the strikes.
Their coffins were carried through the streets of Hodeidah, flanked by crowds and led by a Houthi marching band.
The strike on Saturday was the first by Israel on the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country and came in response to a Houthi drone strike that breached Israel’s air defenses, killing one person in Tel Aviv the day before.
The Houthis, who are fighting Israel, have pledged a “huge” response to the strikes and threatened to once again attack Tel Aviv.
Yemeni port authorities said Hodeidah “is operating at its full capacity,” according to the rebels’ Saba news agency.
“We are working around the clock to receive all ships and there is no concern about the supply chain and supplies of food, medicine, and oil derivatives,” port official Nasr Al-Nusairi was quoted by Saba as saying on Sunday.
But the US-based Navanti Group said the strikes on Hodeidah destroyed five cranes and reduced the port’s fuel storage capacity from 150,000 to 50,000 tons.
Hodeidah port is a vital entry point for fuel imports and international aid for Houthi-held areas of Yemen, a country where the United Nations says more than half the population relies on humanitarian assistance.
“Hodeidah port is a vital lifeline for delivering humanitarian aid to Yemen,” the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said in an emailed statement to AFP.
“Any impact on this infrastructure jeopardizes the entry of essential goods and hampers aid efforts.”
Houthi harbor still ablaze days after Israel strikes on Yemen
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Houthi harbor still ablaze days after Israel strikes on Yemen
- Hodeidah port is a vital entry point for fuel imports and international aid for Houthi-held areas of Yemen, a country where the United Nations says more than half the population relies on humanitarian assistance
War crimes court ends proceedings against late Hamas leader Haniyeh
Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran on July 31
THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Friday it had terminated proceedings against late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh following his death in July.
The ICC is currently weighing a request for arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders made earlier this year.
In May ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan asked for arrest warrants for Hamas leaders, saying there were reasonable grounds to suspect that Yahya Sinwar, military chief Mohammed Al-Masri and Haniyeh, bore criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In the same statement the prosecutor announced he was also seeking warrants for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister Yoav Gallant. There has been no word of further developments on those requests.
Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran on July 31. Israel has also said it killed Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in another airstrike, although Hamas would neither confirm or deny that.
Judges said their decision to terminate proceedings followed the withdrawal of the prosecution request for a warrant for Haniyeh earlier this month.
Bomb threat forces Vistara airline plane en route to Frankfurt to land in Turkiye
- The pilots decided to land after a passenger claimed there was a bomb on board after the aircraft entered the Turkish airspace
ANKARA: A Vistara airline flight en route to Germany made a forced landing in Turkiye on Friday following a bomb threat, a Turkish official said.
Flight UK27 from Mumbai to Frankfurt, with 247 passengers and crew on board, landed at Erzurum airport, in eastern Turkiye, Gov. Mustafa Ciftci told the state-run Anadolu Agency.
All passengers were evacuated from the plane and authorities were searching the luggage, Ciftci said.
HaberTurk television said the pilots decided to land after a passenger claimed there was a bomb on board after the aircraft entered the Turkish airspace.
Authorities also shut down the airspace over Erzurum as a precaution, the governor said.
Vistara said on the X media platform that the plane was diverted to Erzurum airport due to security reasons, adding that it had landed safely.
US-Iraq deal would see hundreds of troops withdraw in first year, sources say
- Plan involves withdrawal by end of 2026, sources say, but still needs final go-ahead
- Some troops may stay in advisory role, but Iraq said troops have become magnet for instability
BAGHDAD: The United States and Iraq have reached an understanding on plans for the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces from Iraq, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
The plan, which has been broadly agreed but requires a final go-ahead from both capitals and an announcement date, would see hundreds of troops leave by September 2025, with the remainder departing by the end of 2026, the sources said.
“We have an agreement, its now just a question of when to announce it,” a senior US official said.
The US and Iraq are also seeking to establish a new advisory relationship that could see some US troops remain in Iraq after the drawdown.
An official announcement was initially scheduled for weeks ago but was postponed due to regional escalation related to Israel’s war in Gaza and to iron out some remaining details, the sources said.
The sources include five US officials, two officials from other coalition nations, and three Iraqi officials, all speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Several sources said the deal could be announced this month.
Farhad Alaaldin, foreign affairs adviser to the Iraqi prime minister, said technical talks with Washington on the coalition drawdown had concluded.
“We are now on the brink of transitioning the relationship between Iraq and members of the international coalition to a new level, focusing on bilateral relations in military, security, economic, and cultural areas,” he said.
He did not comment on details of the plan and the US-led coalition did not respond to emailed questions.
The agreement follows more than six months of talks between Baghdad and Washington, initiated by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani in January amid attacks by Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups on US forces stationed at Iraqi bases.
The rocket and drone attacks have killed three American troops and wounded dozens more, resulting in several rounds of deadly US retaliation that threatened government efforts to stabilize Iraq after decades of conflict.
The US has approximately 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in neighboring Syria as part of the coalition formed in 2014 to combat Daesh as it rampaged through the two countries.
The group once held roughly a third of Iraq and Syria but was territorially defeated in Iraq at the end of 2017 and in Syria in 2019. Iraq had demonstrated its ability to handle any remaining threat, Alaaldin said.
The US initially invaded Iraq in 2003, toppling dictator Saddam Hussein before withdrawing in 2011, but returned in 2014 at the head of the coalition to fight Daesh.
Other nations, including Germany, France, Spain, and Italy, also contribute hundreds of troops to the coalition.
Under the plan, all coalition forces would leave the Ain Al-Asad air base in western Anbar province and significantly reduce their presence in Baghdad by September 2025.
US and other coalition troops are expected to remain in Irbil, in the semi-autonomous northern Kurdistan region, for approximately one additional year, until around the end of 2026, to facilitate ongoing operations against Daesh in Syria.
Exact details of troop movements are being kept secret due to their military sensitivity.
The drawdown would mark a notable shift in Washington’s military posture in the region.
While primarily focused on countering Daesh, US officials acknowledge their presence also serves as a strategic position against Iranian influence.
This position has grown more important as Israel and Iran escalate their regional confrontation, with US forces in Iraq shooting down rockets and drones fired toward Israel in recent months, according to US officials.
Prime Minister Al-Sudani has stated that, while he appreciates their help, US troops have become a magnet for instability, frequently targeted and responding with strikes often not coordinated with the Iraqi government.
The agreement, when announced, would likely present a political win for Al-Sudani as he balances Iraq’s position as an ally of both Washington and Tehran. The first phase of the drawdown would end one month before Iraqi parliamentary polls set for October 2025.
For the US, the two-year time frame provides “breathing room,” allowing for potential adjustments if the regional situation changes, a US official said.
The State Department and US Embassy in Baghdad did not respond to requests for comment.
US-Turkish dual citizen killed in anti-settler protest in West Bank
- The US State Department and Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi
- The Turkish ministry said she was killed by Israeli soldiers and described the incident as a “murder carried out by the Netanyahu government“
RAMALLAH, West Bank: A dual US-Turkish citizen taking part in a protest against settlement expansion in the Israeli-occupied West Bank died of her wounds on Friday after being shot in the head by Israeli troops, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
Both the US State Department and Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi. The Turkish ministry said she was killed by Israeli soldiers and described the incident as a “murder carried out by the Netanyahu government.”
The Israeli military said it was looking into “reports of that a foreign national was killed as a result of shots fired in the area. The details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review.”
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said: “We are aware of the tragic death of an American citizen, Aysenur Eygi, today in the West Bank. We offer our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones.
Miller added: “We are urgently gathering more information about the circumstances of her death, and will have more to say as we learn more. We have no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens.”
Fouad Nafaa, the head of the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, told Reuters the woman arrived at the hospital in a very critical condition, with a serious head injury.
“We tried to perform a resuscitation operation on her, but unfortunately she died,” he said.
WAFA said the incident occurred during a regular protest march by activists in Beita, a town near the city of Nablus that has seen repeated attacks by nationalist Jewish settlers.
“Israel is trying to intimidate all those who come to the aid of the Palestinian people and who fight peacefully against the genocide. This policy of violence will not work,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in its statement.
A rise in violent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villages in the West Bank has stirred growing anger among Western allies of Israel, including the United States, which has imposed sanctions on a number of individuals.
Several weeks ago around 100 settlers attacked the village of Jit, in the northern West Bank, drawing worldwide condemnation and an Israeli government promise of swift action against anyone found guilty of violence.
Palestinians and human rights groups regularly accuse Israeli forces of standing by as attacks take place and even joining in themselves.
Turkiye spy chief visits Libya amid political standoff
- A Turkish security source said on Friday that Ibrahim Kalin, head of Türkiye’s National Intelligence Agency (MIT), had met Prime Minister Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah on Thursday
- Kalin conveyed Ankara’s hope for conflicts in Libya to be resolved
ANKARA: Türkiye’s spy chief visited Libya as backers of the Tripoli government search for a way out of a political impasse that has shut down Libya’s oil exports and jeopardized four years of relative stability.
A Turkish security source said on Friday that Ibrahim Kalin, head of Türkiye’s National Intelligence Agency (MIT), had met Prime Minister Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah on Thursday, as well as other officials. Dbeibah head Libya’s UN-recognized, Türkiye-backed Government of National Unity.
Kalin conveyed Ankara’s hope for conflicts in Libya to be resolved “through national agreement and for de-confliction to continue,” the source said, adding Kalin had also reiterated Ankara’s commitment to Libya’s unity and stability.
NATO member Türkiye sent military personnel to Libya in 2020 to train and support a Tripoli-based government against eastern commander Khalifa Haftar’s forces, the Libyan National Army.
Kalin’s visit, the highest level contact between the sides since Dbeibah visited Ankara in late May, comes as rival Libyan authorities work to defuse a political standoff over last month’s ousting of veteran central bank chief Sadiq Al-Kabir. The central bank receives and distributes funds from Libya’s oil exports, source of nearly all national income.
During the impasse, eastern factions had declared a shutdown to all oil production, demanding Kabir’s dismissal be halted, in a move that threatened to end four years of relative stability in Libya, which has had little peace since 2011 and was split in 2014 between eastern and western factions.
