10 years into Houthi rule, some Yemenis count the cost

A picture shows traditional buildings in Sanaa's old city March 1, 2006. (AFP)
A picture shows traditional buildings in Sanaa's old city March 1, 2006. (AFP)
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Updated 20 September 2024
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10 years into Houthi rule, some Yemenis count the cost

A picture shows traditional buildings in Sanaa's old city March 1, 2006. (AFP)
  • Since the militia took power in Sanaa in 2014, the country has gone 'back 50 years,' say distressed residents

DUBAI: With a floundering economy and growing restrictions on personal freedoms, 10 years of Houthi rule has left its mark on Yemen’s ancient capital, Sanaa, where some quietly long for how things once were.
The Houthis, a radical political-military group from Yemen’s northern mountains, have imposed strict rule over the large swath of Yemen under their control, covering two-thirds of the population.
Since the militia took power in Sanaa in 2014, after long-running protests against the government, the country has gone “back 50 years,” sighed Yahya, 39, who, like many, prefers not to share his full name for fear of reprisals.
“Before, we thought about how to buy a car or a house. Now we think about how to feed ourselves,” added Abu Jawad, 45.
Yemen, mired in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, remains divided between the Houthis and the government, now based in the port city of Aden.
The Houthis have tightened their control over many aspects of daily life.
Sanaa once had “political parties, active civic organizations, NGOs ... coffee shops where males and females can sit together,” said researcher Maysaa Shuja Al-Deen of the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies.

Before, we thought about how to buy a car or a house. Now we think about how to feed ourselves.

Abu Jawad, Sanaa resident

“Now the social and political atmosphere has become very closed,” she added.
Men and women are segregated in public, and Houthi slogans like “Death to Israel!” are plastered everywhere, alongside photos of Houthi leaders, Deen said.
Since 2015, Amnesty International has documented numerous cases of activists, journalists, and political opponents who were convicted on “trumped-up” espionage charges.
A wave of arrests in June targeted aid workers, including 13 UN staff who are still detained.
Majed, the director of a Yemeni non-governmental organization, said he fled Sanaa for Aden before taking refuge with friends in Jordan, leaving behind his wife and three children.
“I decided without overthinking. Leaving was a risky choice, but it was the only one,” the 45-year-old said from Amman, where he hopes to find a job.
According to Deen, a Yemeni based outside the country, it is now difficult to go against the ruling authorities or even fail to show support.
“At the very beginning, being silent was an option. Now, it’s not even an option,” she said.
“You have to show that you are loyal to the Houthi ideology.”
The Houthis are adept at using social and traditional media, such as their Al-Masirah TV station, to spread propaganda, and have even revised school textbooks and changed the calendar.
The traditional holiday of Sept. 26, which celebrated the 1962 revolution against the former imam, has been moved to Sept. 21, the day the Houthis took power.
Some Yemenis chafe at the change. “Even if they forbid us from celebrating officially, we will celebrate it in our hearts,” said Abu Ahmed, 53, a Sanaa resident.
However, support for the Houthis’ attacks since November against Israel and ships in the Red Sea, in solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war, seems to be unanimous.
“The Yemenis have always been pro-Palestinian,” said author and Yemen specialist Helen Lackner, highlighting the hundreds of thousands of people who join the Houthis’ weekly demonstrations in Sanaa.
Despite their popularity among ordinary people, the maritime attacks have halted negotiations to end the war.
Rim, 43, who has lived with her family in Saudi Arabia for nine years, has not been able to return to Sanaa to bury her father or attend the weddings of her brothers and sisters.
“I dream of getting my life back,” said the 43-year-old. In the meantime, she is content to talk to her children about her country.
“I don’t want them to forget that they are Yemeni.”

 

 


Diplomatic incident in French-owned Jerusalem compound

Diplomatic incident in French-owned Jerusalem compound
Updated 4 sec ago
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Diplomatic incident in French-owned Jerusalem compound

Diplomatic incident in French-owned Jerusalem compound
JERUSALEM: Israeli police entered the French-owned Eleona church compound in Jerusalem, on Thursday, briefly detaining two gendarmes and prompting French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot to abandon a scheduled visit, an AFP journalist reported.
“I will not enter the Eleona Domain today, because Israeli security forces entered with weapons, without prior French authorization, without agreeing to leave today,” Barrot said at the scene, calling the standoff “unacceptable.”
France claims the sanctuary on the Mount of Olives as its territory under international treaties. It has been the focus of diplomatic incidents in the past.

Lebanon MPs demand UN protection of heritage sites from Israel attacks

Picture shows the destruction at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Baalbek in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley.
Picture shows the destruction at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Baalbek in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley.
Updated 14 min 45 sec ago
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Lebanon MPs demand UN protection of heritage sites from Israel attacks

Picture shows the destruction at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Baalbek in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley.
  • Appeal to head of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, followed Israeli strikes near ancient ruins in the southern city of Tyre and the eastern city of Baalbek in recent weeks

BEIRUT: More than 100 Lebanese lawmakers appealed to the United Nations on Thursday to ensure the preservation of heritage sites in areas heavily bombed by Israel during its war with Hezbollah.
The appeal to the head of the UN cultural agency, UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, followed Israeli strikes near ancient ruins in the southern city of Tyre and the eastern city of Baalbek in recent weeks.
“During the devastating war on Lebanon, Israel has caused grave human rights violations and atrocities,” the lawmakers said more than a month into the Israel-Hezbollah war.
“As parliamentarians, we bring to your attention an urgent need: the protection of Lebanon’s historic sites in Baalbek, Tyre, Sidon and other invaluable landmarks currently at risk due to the escalation of the atrocities,” it added.
“These cherished landmarks, treasured not only by our nation but by the world, face imminent risk as the war escalates.”
Lebanon is home to six UNESCO World Heritage sites, including Roman ruins in Baalbek and Tyre, where Hezbollah holds sway.
In Baalbek, Israeli strikes on Wednesday destroyed a heritage house and damaged a historic hotel near the city’s Roman temples, according to local authorities.
The strike hit just a few meters (yards) from the ruins, the closest since the start of the war, officials said.
“We are waiting for engineers from UNESCO and the Directorate General of Antiquities” to determine if there was any damage, Baalbek mayor Mustafa Al-Shall told AFP.
In Tyre, Israeli strikes have hit close to the city’s Roman ruins.
UNESCO said last month it was “closely following the impact of the ongoing conflict on the World Heritage site of Tyre,” using remote sensing tools and satellite imagery.
The Lebanese MPs called on Azoulay to “urgently prioritize the protection of these historic sites by mobilizing UNESCO’s authority, securing international attention, and advocating for protective measures.”
“This appeal goes beyond physical preservation; it is about safeguarding the traditions, stories and values these sites represent — legacies that connect our past to our future.”
Hezbollah and Israel have been at war since late September, when Israel broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border, even as the Gaza war continues.
Since September 23, more than 2,600 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, according to Health Minister Firass Abiad.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on Monday for a ceasefire “to protect our country’s cultural heritage, including the ancient archaeological sites of Baalbek and Tyre.”
He called on the UN Security Council to “take swift and decisive action to protect these historical treasures.”


Israel army tells north Gaza residents to leave ‘combat zone’

Israel army tells north Gaza residents to leave ‘combat zone’
Updated 49 min 52 sec ago
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Israel army tells north Gaza residents to leave ‘combat zone’

Israel army tells north Gaza residents to leave ‘combat zone’
  • “For your safety, move south immediately,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X
  • The latest call follows a series of evacuation orders for large swathes of the Gaza Strip’s north

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military called for the evacuation of several areas in northern Gaza on Thursday, again warning that Palestinian militants were launching rockets from there.
“We inform you that the designated area is considered a dangerous combat zone. For your safety, move south immediately,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X along with a map of the area in Gaza City’s northwest.
The latest call follows a series of evacuation orders for large swathes of the Gaza Strip’s north, where Israeli forces have intensified their operations since early October.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told reporters that “we are isolating Gazan civilians away from Hamas terrorists so we can get to the terrorists” still in that area.
“Right now, there are residents of the northern part of Gaza who have been evacuated to safer places,” he added.


Greek tanker crippled by Houthi militants starts oil transfer

he Sounion caught fire and lost power after being attacked on August 21 off the coast of Hodeidah. (Aspides)
he Sounion caught fire and lost power after being attacked on August 21 off the coast of Hodeidah. (Aspides)
Updated 07 November 2024
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Greek tanker crippled by Houthi militants starts oil transfer

he Sounion caught fire and lost power after being attacked on August 21 off the coast of Hodeidah. (Aspides)

ATHENS: A Greek oil tanker crippled by Yemen’s Houthi militants and towed to avert an environmental disaster began transferring its cargo of over a million barrels on Thursday, the state-run ANA news agency said.
The Sounion caught fire and lost power after being attacked on August 21 off the coast of Hodeidah, a Houthi-held port city.
The following day its 25-strong crew was rescued. The rebels claimed to have detonated charges on the ship’s deck, sparking new fires.
ANA said the Sounion had begun transferring its cargo of 150,000 tons of crude to another tanker, Delta Blue, at a “safe anchorage” in the port of Suez.
“The vessel is at Suez, and as it’s at a safe anchorage, we are no longer monitoring it,” a source at Greece’s merchant marine ministry told AFP.
Citing ministry sources, ANA said the operation began on Thursday and will last between three and four weeks.
In September, EU maritime safety body Aspides said the Sounion was not under its protection at the time of the attack.
The ship’s original course “was a bit of a mystery,” the ministry source told AFP. “We were told it was heading from Iraq to Singapore. If that were the case, how did it end up in the Red Sea?“
The operation to tow the vessel to safety in September required a tugboat escorted by three frigates, helicopters and a special forces team, ANA said.
Had the vessel broken up or exploded, it could have caused an oil spill four times larger than that caused by the Exxon Valdez in 1989 off Alaska, experts had warned.
The EU naval force was formed in February to protect merchant vessels in the Red Sea from attacks by Houthis.
The Houthis have waged a campaign against international shipping to show solidarity with Hamas in its war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
They have been firing drones and missiles at ships in the vital commercial route, saying they are targeting vessels linked to Israel, the US and Britain.
The United States, with the support of allies led by Britain, has carried out repeated air strikes on rebel bases in Yemen.


Lebanon says 3 killed, UN peacekeepers wounded in Israel strikes

Members of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force enter a bus at the site of an Israeli strike at the northern entrance of Sidon.
Members of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force enter a bus at the site of an Israeli strike at the northern entrance of Sidon.
Updated 07 November 2024
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Lebanon says 3 killed, UN peacekeepers wounded in Israel strikes

Members of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force enter a bus at the site of an Israeli strike at the northern entrance of Sidon.
  • Three Lebanese soldiers manning the checkpoint were also wounded alongside members of the Malaysian contingent of UNIFIL, according to the army

SIDON: The Lebanese army said an Israeli strike on a vehicle near a checkpoint in the southern city of Sidon on Thursday killed three people and wounded troops and UN peacekeepers.
“The Israeli enemy targeted a car while it was passing through the Awali checkpoint,” the main northern entrance to Sidon, the army said.
With the exception of a few limited strikes, Sidon, a Sunni Muslim-majority city, has been relatively spared the deadly air raids targeting south Lebanon in Israel’s war against the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.
The strike killed three people, all of them passengers in the targeted vehicle, the army said.
Three Lebanese soldiers manning the checkpoint were also wounded alongside members of the Malaysian contingent of UNIFIL, according to the army.
The UNIFIL peacekeeping force said a “convoy bringing newly-arrived peacekeepers to south Lebanon was passing Sidon when a drone strike occurred nearby.”
“Five peacekeepers were lightly injured and treated by the Lebanese Red Cross on the spot. They will continue to their posts,” it said, urging warring parties “to avoid actions putting peacekeepers or civilians in danger.”
UNIFIL has thousands of peacekeepers
Lebanon’s official National News Agency said a UNIFIL vehicle was on the “same lane” during the strike, which left UN peacekeepers with “minor injuries.”
An AFP correspondent in the area saw the charred, mangled remains of the targeted vehicle which was only a few meters away from an army checkpoint.
The correspondent saw UNIFIL peacekeepers gathered on the sidewalk near the checkpoint, some of them bloodied and wounded after the raid, as paramedics attended to their injuries.
The UNIFIL convoy comprised a number of busses, the correspondent said.
Israeli raids have intensified in recent weeks on Haret Saida, a densely-populated Sidon suburb that has a significant population of Shiite Muslims.
Israel has also increasingly launched targeted strikes on vehicles. A woman was killed Thursday in an Israeli strike targeting a car on a key road linking the capital Beirut with the Bekaa Valley and Syria, a security source told AFP.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported earlier that “an enemy drone targeted a car in Araya,” adding that the strike left the route blocked to vehicular traffic.
The highway links Beirut to the Syrian capital of Damascus, through the Lebanese mountains.