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UN Warns of Devastating Impact of Mines, Explosive Ordnance on Yemen’s Population

Safer tanker off the coast of Yemen (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Safer tanker off the coast of Yemen (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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UN Warns of Devastating Impact of Mines, Explosive Ordnance on Yemen’s Population

Safer tanker off the coast of Yemen (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Safer tanker off the coast of Yemen (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Yemeni Foreign Minister Dr. Ahmed bin Mubarak discussed on Tuesday with Resident Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen, David Gressly, the importance of expanding the application of decentralization in humanitarian work and the permanent presence of international organizations in the Yemeni governorates.

During a meeting in The Hague, the two sides reviewed the progress made in implementing the UN plan to address the issue of the Safer tanker, the floating oil storage and offloading vessel that is moored in the Red Sea north of the Yemeni city of Hodeidah.

Two weeks ago, the UN said it sent technical support to soon begin salvage 1.1 million barrels of oil from the Safer tanker moored off Yemen's coasts of Ras El-Ain.

The salvage operation is expected to cost $129 million. The UN said that $75 million had been received and another $20 million had been pledged.

The UN said it could still suspend the operation if it does not secure the remaining funds.

On Tuesday, Bin Mubarak appreciated the efforts being made and the contributions offered by the international community to avert an environmental catastrophe whose effects could last for decades.

An oil spill from the FSO Safer would destroy coral reefs and other sea life in the Red Sea, jeopardize hundreds of thousands of jobs in the fishing industry, and cut Yemen off from supplies of food and fuel, the United Nations and other organizations have warned.

During the meeting with Gressly, bin Mubarak tackled the mobilization of resources to deal with the issues of internal displacement and mine clearance.

Meanwhile, Chair of the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) and Head of the United Nations Mission to support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA), Major General Michael Beary, briefed Tuesday, in a closed session, the Security Council on the situation in Hodeidah.

The General drew attention to the devastating impact of mines and explosive ordnance on the local population and assured the Council that UNMHA will continue to strengthen mine action coordination towards improving the situation.

Beary then reiterated commitment to furthering the UN's collective efforts toward stability and peace in Yemen.

The Saudi MASAM project in Yemen, overseen by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, has seen a milestone 400,000 landmines and unexploded ordnance cleared in more than five years.

 

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Syria Says Israeli Strikes Kill 18 People in a Large-Scale Attack on Sites

Syrians inspect the damage at the site of overnight Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Masyaf in Syria's central Hama province on September 9, 2024. (AFP)
Syrians inspect the damage at the site of overnight Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Masyaf in Syria's central Hama province on September 9, 2024. (AFP)
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Syria Says Israeli Strikes Kill 18 People in a Large-Scale Attack on Sites

Syrians inspect the damage at the site of overnight Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Masyaf in Syria's central Hama province on September 9, 2024. (AFP)
Syrians inspect the damage at the site of overnight Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Masyaf in Syria's central Hama province on September 9, 2024. (AFP)

The number of people killed in overnight Israeli strikes in Syria has risen to 18 with dozens more wounded, Syria's health minister said Monday — the largest death toll in such an attack since the beginning of the war in Gaza.

One of the sites targeted was a research center used in the development of weapons, a war monitor said. Syrian officials said civilian sites were targeted.

Israel regularly targets military sites in Syria linked to Iran and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. Those strikes have become more frequent as Hezbollah has exchanged fire with Israeli forces for the past 11 months against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hamas — a Hezbollah ally — in Gaza.

However, the intensity and death toll of Sunday night's strikes were unusual.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations. The strikes often target Syrian forces or Iranian-backed groups.

Israel has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment in Syria, particularly since Syria is a key route for Iran to send weapons to Hezbollah.

Israeli strikes hit several areas in central Syria, damaging a highway in Hama province and sparking fires, Syrian state news agency SANA said.

Speaking to reporters, Syrian Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabbash described the strikes as a "brutal and barbaric aggression." He said the death toll had risen to 18 with nearly 40 wounded.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said 25 were killed, including at least five civilians, while the others included Syrian army soldiers and members of Hezbollah and other Iran-linked armed groups.

One strike targeted a scientific research center in Masyaf, and others sites where "Iranian militias and experts are stationed to develop weapons in Syria," the observatory said. It said the research center was reportedly used for developing weapons, including short- and medium-range precision missiles and drones.

Minister of Electricity Mohammad al-Zamel said the strikes had caused "truly significant" damage to water and electricity infrastructure.

"This brutal attack targeted civilian targets, and the martyrs were mostly civilians, as were the wounded," he said.

Muhammad Sumaya, a firefighter with the Hama Fire Brigade, was wounded when shrapnel from one of the strikes hit his foot.

When the strikes began, he said while being treated in the Masyaf hospital Monday, "we moved from one place to another to deal with the fires and work to extinguish them." While they were working, he said, "a missile landed right next to us."

Azzam al-Omar, a SANA photographer, said he was hit by shrapnel in the chest when a missile landed while he was photographing the aftermath of a strike.

Local media also reported strikes around the coastal city of Tartous, which the observatory said were the result of air defense missiles falling.

On Monday afternoon, a charred car remained at the scene of one strike and smoke was still rising from some spots where fires had been put out.