Yemeni FM: Houthi Immoral Aggression Continues

A Houthi boat in the Red Sea, where the group controls Hodeidah ports (EPA)
A Houthi boat in the Red Sea, where the group controls Hodeidah ports (EPA)
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Yemeni FM: Houthi Immoral Aggression Continues

A Houthi boat in the Red Sea, where the group controls Hodeidah ports (EPA)
A Houthi boat in the Red Sea, where the group controls Hodeidah ports (EPA)

Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak affirmed on Thursday that the Houthi aggression in Yemen continues "using immoral methods," accusing the group of thwarting peace efforts.

Bin Mubarak referred to the economic war the group was waging by targeting financial capabilities, facilities, and oil tankers with Iranian drones, which halted oil exports.

The Yemeni government seeks diplomatic support for its legitimate position.

Speaking to diplomats at the Hungarian Academy on the sidelines of his visit to Budapest, the Yemeni minister said that the ongoing conflict in Yemen runs between a group represented by a legitimate government seeking to preserve their freedom and basic rights and liberate their land and an aggressive sectarian Iran-backed militia seeking to establish a repressive, tyrannical regime.

Saba reported that bin Mubarak met Arab ambassadors and discussed with them the recent political developments in his country and the negative attitude of the Houthi militia towards efforts to achieve peace.

Official media reported that bin Mubarak touched on Iranian interference in Yemen affairs, Tehran's establishment of sectarian militias, and its attempts to replace sects with states and militias instead of armies to achieve its expansionist ambitions.

He indicated that the group is pressuring businessmen in areas under its control to stop importing through Aden Port.

They want to prevent the distribution of subsidized gas extracted from Maerib in areas still under militia control and replace it with Iranian gas, to be sold for Houthis' benefit.

The FM discussed the negative and non-constructive position of the Houthi militia towards the peace process, accusing it of thwarting efforts aimed at stopping the war and ending its disastrous humanitarian repercussions.

- Economic decline

Meanwhile, the Yemeni government suffers from severe economic conditions due to the cessation of oil exports because of Houthi attacks, amid fears of a resumption of battles.

The Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Waed Bathib, said before The UN High-Level Political Forum in New York City that the crisis is worsening in Yemen.

He explained that 60 percent of the population suffers from food insecurity and 80 percent needs humanitarian assistance, adding that about 4.3 million people have been displaced.

Bathib pointed to the high external indebtedness in his country and the economy's contraction by more than 50 percent of the GDP, pointing to the decline in public revenues, the rise in poverty to about 80 percent, and the worsening financial situation as a result of the Houthi militia's targeting of oil export ports by drones.

Furthermore, the head of the Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad al-Alimi, confirmed that progress had yet to be made to renew the truce and launch peace talks, despite the UN, international, and regional efforts.

Alimi accused Houthis of seeking to perpetuate chaos and starve Yemenis in all regions.

The Houthis have threatened to attack oil export ports and target cargo ships if the legitimate government resumes exports.

The militias rejected international and regional proposals to renew and expand the truce and agree on coordinated steps to pay the salaries of public employees.



Israeli Minister Calls for West Bank War, Annexation of Lebanon, Gaza Areas

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reviews the 'E1' settlement map in the West Bank (Archival - AFP)
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reviews the 'E1' settlement map in the West Bank (Archival - AFP)
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Israeli Minister Calls for West Bank War, Annexation of Lebanon, Gaza Areas

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reviews the 'E1' settlement map in the West Bank (Archival - AFP)
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reviews the 'E1' settlement map in the West Bank (Archival - AFP)

Israel's far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich called on Sunday for the annexation of areas of south Lebanon and the Gaza Strip currently under Israeli military control and for Israeli forces to "go to war" against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, reported AFP.

"I would like us to annex at least as far as the Yellow Line in Gaza (which demarcates the areas under Hamas and Israeli control) and as far as the Litani River in Lebanon... because if a war ends along the same lines where it began, what will deter the enemy from going to war again," Smotrich said in a podcast for Israeli news site Ynet.

"I think we need to go to war in Judea and Samaria, to dismantle the Palestinian Authority that supports terror," he added, using the biblical term for the West Bank.

Smotrich is the leader of a far-right party that advocates the annexation of the entire West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.

The West Bank has seen a surge in violence since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip following Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

More than 500,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements, which are illegal under international law, in the Palestinian territory among some three million Palestinians.


Libya Oil Pipeline Reopens after Being Blocked by Armed Group

Sharara oil field (Libyan News Agency)
Sharara oil field (Libyan News Agency)
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Libya Oil Pipeline Reopens after Being Blocked by Armed Group

Sharara oil field (Libyan News Agency)
Sharara oil field (Libyan News Agency)

Libya's national oil firm announced Saturday that an oil pipeline blocked for several days by an armed group had reopened, ending a disruption it said had cost $95 million.

The pipeline links the Al-Sharara oilfield in southwest Libya to the Zawiya export terminal on the Mediterranean coast, said AFP.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) said in a statement that valve number seven had been reopened, allowing crude pumping through the pipeline to resume.

The pipeline is operated by Akakus, a joint venture between the NOC, Spain's Repsol, France's TotalEnergies, Austria's OMV and Norway's Equinor.

An armed group shut the valve on Monday, causing a sharp drop in production, according to the NOC. It gave no details about those responsible or their demands.

Blockades of oil and gas facilities have been common in Libya in recent years, driven by social grievances, security threats or political disputes.


Egyptian Source Denies Cairo Involvement in Ethiopia Unrest

Gunmen in Tigray hand over light weapons to Ethiopian defense forces earlier (Ethiopian News Agency)
Gunmen in Tigray hand over light weapons to Ethiopian defense forces earlier (Ethiopian News Agency)
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Egyptian Source Denies Cairo Involvement in Ethiopia Unrest

Gunmen in Tigray hand over light weapons to Ethiopian defense forces earlier (Ethiopian News Agency)
Gunmen in Tigray hand over light weapons to Ethiopian defense forces earlier (Ethiopian News Agency)

An informed Egyptian source on Saturday rejected allegations linking Cairo to renewed unrest in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region where fighting resumed between Tigrayan forces and the federal government, nearly four years after a peace deal ended a two-year war.

Field Marshal Birhanu Jula, chief of general staff of the Ethiopian National Defense Force, accused foreign powers of supporting a newly formed armed alliance seeking to destabilize Ethiopia.

“The Tigray front and the alliance cannot achieve anything on their own unless they are pushed, supported and supplied by Sudan, Egypt and other forces,” Jula said in remarks carried by Ethiopian media Friday.

He also accused Eritrea of acting as an intermediary between foreign powers and armed groups inside Ethiopia.

Tigrayan forces seized three airports in the region and launched attacks in neighboring Afar and Amhara in recent days, marking the most serious escalation since the devastating 2020-2022 war.

The Egyptian source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Ethiopia’s insinuations were “allegations that do not merit a response,” adding that Cairo “has nothing to do with such polemics.”

The source urged Ethiopian authorities to “address their own internal crises and problems instead of trying to blame their domestic failures on external parties.”

The Tigray crisis was a longstanding internal issue, the source added, stressing that Egypt maintains “a consistent and strict policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.”

Egyptian strategic and military expert Samir Ragheb similarly told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Ethiopian military chief’s remarks amounted to assumptions intended to shift responsibility for Addis Ababa’s internal problems onto outside actors.

Ragheb argued that Ethiopia’s reference to outside support was based largely on geography, given Tigray’s northern borders with Sudan and Eritrea.

“If Egypt had sought to intervene in Ethiopia to exert pressure over other issues, it would have done so during the 2020 fighting, when the conflict was at its height and before construction phases of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam had been completed,” he said.

Ragheb described the fighting as a longstanding domestic struggle over power and resources, stemming from disputes over governance and efforts to weaken Ethiopia’s federal system.

He also urged that the Tigray conflict be kept separate from the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, saying there was no operational or strategic link between fighting in Tigray and the dam.

Ragheb argued that Addis Ababa’s accusations were intended to deflect attention from what he described as failures to fulfill commitments under the 2022 Pretoria peace agreement. He stressed that Cairo does not support armed factions or movements against African states.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front dominated Ethiopia’s ruling coalition from 1991 until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018 and marginalized the group, contributing to tensions that erupted into war in 2020.

The Pretoria agreement ended that conflict in 2022, but tensions and intermittent clashes subsequently returned before escalating sharply this month.