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Yemen's Presidential Council Warns Houthis over Military Escalation

Rashad Al-Alimi chairs a meeting of the Yemeni Presidential Council (Saba)
Rashad Al-Alimi chairs a meeting of the Yemeni Presidential Council (Saba)
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Yemen's Presidential Council Warns Houthis over Military Escalation

Rashad Al-Alimi chairs a meeting of the Yemeni Presidential Council (Saba)
Rashad Al-Alimi chairs a meeting of the Yemeni Presidential Council (Saba)

Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council warned the Houthi militia against ongoing military escalation and stressed the need to secure enough fuel supplies to operate the power grid, according to the official media.

State-owned news agency Saba reported that Rashad al-Alimi chaired a meeting of the Presidential Council and discussed the recent developments and political efforts to achieve peace and stability.

The official media said that the Council welcomed the launch of the flights from al-Ghaydah Airport, expressing gratitude to Saudi Arabia for rehabilitating the facility and emphasizing its positive impact on investment and travel.

The meeting stressed that the resumption of flights to the airport would stimulate investment activities and alleviate travelers' suffering.

The meeting addressed the economic and financial challenges facing the interim capital, Aden, and the liberated governorates.

The Presidential Council stressed the importance of ensuring the provision of sufficient fuel to operate the electric grid and boosting the role of oversight agencies in addressing the imbalances that affect this vital sector.

They reiterated the Council and government's commitment to enhancing monetary and financial stability and improving the state's access to public resources through comprehensive reforms.

The Council also addressed recent regional and international developments concerning the renewal of the ceasefire.

Official sources said that the Council stressed the importance of restoring state institutions, security, stability, and development and ending the Houthi coup.

According to the sources, the Presidential Council warned the Houthi militia against continuing its military actions and gross human rights violations.

It lauded and appreciated the army and the popular resistance in deterring any escalation aimed at obstructing efforts to achieve peace.

The Council called on the international community to address the intransigence of the Houthi militia, praising people's aspirations to build a modern state that ensures the participation of all Yemenis.

It affirmed its commitment to alleviating human suffering and fulfilling its obligations towards the Yemeni people, paving the way towards achieving internal stability and peace.

- Operation of al Ghaydah Airport

Alimi congratulated the residents of al-Mahra Governorate on the inauguration of flights through al-Ghaydah International Airport as the fourth airport in the liberated governorates after years of suffering and the hardship of travel.

The head of the Council praised the Saudi efforts that led to this achievement.

On Thursday, the first Yemen Airways planes arrived at the airport, which became operational after rehabilitation by the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY).

The airport rehabilitation project included developing and upgrading the efficiency of the units, halls, and buildings inside the airport, providing it with the navigational system (RNAV), and a communication system for the air control tower in compliance with the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization.

The inauguration took place with the participation of the Minister of Transport, Abd al-Salam Hamid, and several officials.

Hamid stressed the importance of operating domestic flights at al-Ghaydah airport, saying the future step will be to operate international flights, which would facilitate citizens' travel and stimulate the commercial and tourism movement.

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Blinken Demands Overhaul of Israeli Conduct in West Bank after Killing of US Protester

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (not pictured) as part of a strategic dialogue at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London, Britain, 10 September 2024. (EPA)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (not pictured) as part of a strategic dialogue at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London, Britain, 10 September 2024. (EPA)
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Blinken Demands Overhaul of Israeli Conduct in West Bank after Killing of US Protester

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (not pictured) as part of a strategic dialogue at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London, Britain, 10 September 2024. (EPA)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (not pictured) as part of a strategic dialogue at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London, Britain, 10 September 2024. (EPA)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday demanded an overhaul of Israeli military conduct in the occupied West Bank as he decried the fatal shooting of an American protester against settlement expansion, which Israel said was accidental.

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, who is also a Turkish national, was shot dead last Friday at a protest march in Beita, a village near Nablus where Palestinians have been repeatedly attacked by far-right Jewish settlers.

Israel's military said on Tuesday that its initial inquiry found it was highly likely its troops had fired the shot that killed her but that her death was unintentional, and it voiced deep regret.

In his strongest comments to date criticizing the security forces of Washington's closest Middle East ally, Blinken described Eygi's killing as "unprovoked and unjustified". He said Washington would insist to the Israeli government that it makes changes to how its forces operate in the West Bank.

"No one should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have to put their life at risk just for freely expressing their views," he told reporters in London.

"In our judgment, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement.

"Now we have the second American citizen killed at the hands of Israeli security forces. It's not acceptable," he said.

An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment on Blinken's remarks.

The Israeli military said an investigation by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division was under way and its findings would be submitted for higher-level review once completed.

"We're going to be watching that very, very closely," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, saying a criminal probe was an unusual step by Israel's military.

"We're going to want to see where it goes now in terms of the criminal investigation and what they find, and if and how anyone is held accountable," Kirby added.

Eygi's family called the preliminary inquiry "wholly inadequate" and urged US President Joe Biden to demand an independent investigation.

PRELIMINARY INQUIRY

In a statement, the Israeli military said its commanders had conducted an initial investigation into the incident and found that the gunfire was not aimed at her but another individual it called "the key instigator of the riot."

"The incident took place during a violent riot in which dozens of Palestinian suspects burned tires and hurled rocks towards security forces at the Beita Junction," it said.

Israel has sent a request to Palestinian authorities to carry out an autopsy, it said.

"We are deeply offended by the suggestion that her killing by a trained sniper was in any way unintentional," Eygi's family said in a statement.

A surge in violent settler assaults on Palestinians in the West Bank has stirred anger among Western allies of Israel, including the United States, which has imposed sanctions on some Israelis involved in the hardline settler movement. Tensions have been heightened amid Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

Palestinians have held weekly protests in Beita since 2020 over the expansion of nearby Evyatar, a settler outpost. Ultra-nationalist members of Israel's ruling coalition have acted to legalize previously unauthorized outposts like Evyatar, a move Washington says threatens the stability of the West Bank and undercuts efforts toward a two-state solution to the conflict.

Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River, an area Palestinians want as the core of a future independent state.

Israel has built a thickening array of settlements there that most countries deem illegal. Israel disputes that assertion, citing historical and biblical ties to the territory.