Algeria: Israel Backing Morocco Over Western Sahara a 'Flagrant Violation' of International Law

Prime Minister Ayman bin Abdul Rahman - AAWSAT AR
Prime Minister Ayman bin Abdul Rahman - AAWSAT AR
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Algeria: Israel Backing Morocco Over Western Sahara a 'Flagrant Violation' of International Law

Prime Minister Ayman bin Abdul Rahman - AAWSAT AR
Prime Minister Ayman bin Abdul Rahman - AAWSAT AR

Algeria on Thursday denounced Israel's backing of Morocco's "claimed sovereignty" over the disputed Western Sahara region as a "flagrant violation" of international law.

On Monday, the royal cabinet in Rabat said Israel had decided to "recognize Morocco's sovereignty" over the mineral-rich desert region, citing a letter from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The decision "constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, UN Security Council decisions and General Assembly resolutions on the Western Sahara question", the foreign ministry in Algiers said in a statement.

It "shows agreement between the occupiers' policies and their complicity in violating international law", and encroaches upon the "legitimate right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital and of the Sahrawi people to self-determination".

The dispute dates back to 1975, when colonial ruler Spain withdrew from the territory, sparking a 15-year war between Morocco and the Polisario which seeks the territory's independence.

Rabat controls nearly 80 percent of Western Sahara and sees the entire region, home to abundant phosphates and fisheries, as its sovereign territory.

The Polisario continues to demand a UN-supervised referendum on self-determination, which was agreed in a 1991 ceasefire accord but has still not taken place.

On Wednesday, the Polisario slammed Israel's decision as "null and void" and said it would "only reinforce the determination of the Sahrawi people to pursue their national struggle on several fronts".



Top Houthi Leaders Flee Sanaa Amid Trump-Ordered US Strikes

Top Houthi leaders disappear from Sanaa, communication cut off (Houthi Media)
Top Houthi leaders disappear from Sanaa, communication cut off (Houthi Media)
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Top Houthi Leaders Flee Sanaa Amid Trump-Ordered US Strikes

Top Houthi leaders disappear from Sanaa, communication cut off (Houthi Media)
Top Houthi leaders disappear from Sanaa, communication cut off (Houthi Media)

Senior Houthi leaders have disappeared from public life in Sanaa, gripped by fear of US airstrikes ordered by President Donald Trump, now entering their third week, sources in Yemen said.

The first-tier leadership of the Iran-aligned group is believed to have fled the capital, which remains under Houthi control, seeking shelter in remote areas of Saada and Amran provinces.

According to informed sources, the group’s leaders have severed traditional communication channels and several have either gone into hiding or relocated to undisclosed locations as a precaution against possible targeted strikes.

Since the launch of US airstrikes on March 15, senior and mid-level Houthi leaders have vanished from public view and social media platforms, Yemeni sources say, as fear of targeted attacks continues to grow within the group’s ranks.

Informed sources confirmed there has been no trace of the group’s top two tiers of leadership - neither in the institutions under Houthi control in Sanaa, nor on the streets and neighborhoods they once frequented in luxury vehicles.

Even the sectarian events that Houthi leaders were known to regularly attend have reportedly gone on without their visible presence.

The Houthi group has remained tight-lipped about the extent of its human and military losses following US airstrikes ordered by Trump.

However, sources say several leaders not belonging to the ruling family of Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi are still believed to be in Sanaa.

Many of these figures have adopted strict security measures to avoid detection, including travelling in vehicles with tinted windows and covering their faces with cloaks when leaving temporary residences, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The precautions reflect growing fears of betrayal or being targeted by further strikes.

A source in Sanaa revealed that third-tier Houthi officials—mostly tribal figures and field supervisors—were instructed to flee to the northern provinces of Saada, Amran and other areas as US air raids intensified.

According to the source, mid-level Houthi officials have lost all direct contact with the group’s senior leadership after the latter switched locations and shut down their communication lines.