Yemen Laments Resource Shortage, Houthis Threatens Vital Sectors

Yemeni cabinet holding a meeting in Aden on Wednesday (Saba News Agency)
Yemeni cabinet holding a meeting in Aden on Wednesday (Saba News Agency)
TT

Yemen Laments Resource Shortage, Houthis Threatens Vital Sectors

Yemeni cabinet holding a meeting in Aden on Wednesday (Saba News Agency)
Yemeni cabinet holding a meeting in Aden on Wednesday (Saba News Agency)

The Yemeni government acknowledged on Wednesday a critical lack of resources to address crucial expenses, highlighting its dependence on support from allies and friends to uphold economic stability.

Simultaneously, the leader of the Houthi group issued a warning of potential reprisal terrorist attacks targeting key sectors within liberated areas, including oil export ports.

The Yemeni government’s acknowledgment came during a cabinet meeting in Aden, presided over by Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik. This coincided with the ongoing deterioration of the Yemeni rial against hard currencies, as the exchange rate surpassed 1300 rials per US dollar in liberated areas.

According to official media, the cabinet meeting focused on examining the evolving state of affairs and public matters across the nation, encompassing political, military, security, and service-related aspects.

It also conducted a thorough assessment of the progress made in implementing decisions concerning diverse issues and priorities within the government's reform program.

For his part, Abdulmalik reiterated his commitment to “facilitating opportunities for efforts aimed at ending the war.”

He highlighted the extensive concessions made by the government in the ceasefire and de-escalation process, despite bearing significant economic burdens resulting from the terrorist Houthi attacks on the oil sector, their continued looting of revenues, and the deepening suffering of citizens in areas under their control.

Abdulmalik also expressed his concerns about the “financial challenges facing the government in fulfilling its essential commitments, with a decline in public revenues caused by Houthi terrorist attacks targeting oil export ports.”

The premier stated that his government relies on the role of Yemen’s friends and partners, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE at the forefront, to provide urgent support in these exceptional circumstances.

Supporting the government in maintaining economic stability is a fundamental and sustainable approach to addressing and alleviating the humanitarian suffering caused by the terrorist Houthi militia since their coup and initiation of the war in Yemen, emphasized Abdulmalik.

To address the challenges, the prime minister established a committee comprising six ministries and the Central Bank, which will oversee the implementation of an extensive economic, financial, and monetary reform program.

The Yemeni government has suffered significant financial losses due to Houthi attacks on oil export ports since October of last year, resulting in the depletion of a crucial revenue stream for public services and salaries.

In a recent speech on Tuesday, Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi issued a threat to carry out further attacks against vital targets in liberated areas.



With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
TT

With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)

After weeks of Israeli bombardment left them with nowhere else to go, hundreds of Palestinians have ended up in a former Gaza prison built to hold murderers and thieves.

Yasmeen al-Dardasi said she and her family passed wounded people they were unable to help as they evacuated from a district in the southern city of Khan Younis towards its Central Correction and Rehabilitation Facility.

They spent a day under a tree before moving on to the former prison, where they now live in a prayer room. It offers protection from the blistering sun, but not much else.

Dardasi's husband has a damaged kidney and just one lung, but no mattress or blanket.

"We are not settled here either," said Dardasi, who like many Palestinians fears she will be uprooted once again.

Israel has said it goes out of its way to protect civilians in its war with the Palestinian group Hamas, which runs Gaza and led the attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that sparked the latest conflict.

Palestinians, many of whom have been displaced several times, say nowhere is free of Israeli bombardment, which has reduced much of Gaza to rubble.

An Israeli air strike killed at least 90 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in the Al-Mawasi area on July 13, the territory's health ministry said, in an attack that Israel said targeted Hamas' elusive military chief Mohammed Deif.

On Thursday, Gaza's health ministry said Israeli military strikes on areas in eastern Khan Younis had killed 14 people.

Entire neighborhoods have been flattened in one of the most densely populated places in the world, where poverty and unemployment have long been widespread.

According to the United Nations, nine in ten people across Gaza are now internally displaced.

Israeli soldiers told Saria Abu Mustafa and her family that they should flee for safety as tanks were on their way, she said. The family had no time to change so they left in their prayer clothes.

After sleeping outside on sandy ground, they too found refuge in the prison, among piles of rubble and gaping holes in buildings from the battles which were fought there. Inmates had been released long before Israel attacked.

"We didn't take anything with us. We came here on foot, with children walking with us," she said, adding that many of the women had five or six children with them and that water was hard to find.

She held her niece, who was born during the conflict, which has killed her father and brothers.

When Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7 they killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the air and ground offensive Israel launched in response, Palestinian health officials say.

Hana Al-Sayed Abu Mustafa arrived at the prison after being displaced six times.

If Egyptian, US and Qatari mediators fail to secure a ceasefire they have long said is close, she and other Palestinians may be on the move once again. "Where should we go? All the places that we go to are dangerous," she said.