Jordan to Host New Round of Yemeni Prisoners' Talks

Yemeni government meeting in the temporary capital, Aden (Saba News)
Yemeni government meeting in the temporary capital, Aden (Saba News)
TT

Jordan to Host New Round of Yemeni Prisoners' Talks

Yemeni government meeting in the temporary capital, Aden (Saba News)
Yemeni government meeting in the temporary capital, Aden (Saba News)

Jordan will host on Sunday q new round of Yemeni negotiations between the government and the Houthis regarding prisoners and detainees, according to official Yemeni sources.

The talks are taking place under the auspice of the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen (OSESGY) Hans Grundberg.

The military media of the Joint Forces on the western coast of Yemen quoted a member of the government's negotiating team, Abdullah Abu Houria, who verified that a new round of UN-sponsored prisoner negotiations will take place on Nov. 26 based on the all-for-all principle.

The release of political figure Mohammed Qahtan will be the first topic addressed by the government team.

Abu Houria hoped that the negotiations would succeed in releasing all prisoners, detainees, and forcibly disappeared persons and ending the suffering of all families, most of whom do not know their fate.

Previous negotiating rounds, sponsored by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), succeeded in releasing two batches of prisoners and detainees, including 1,000 in the first batch and 900 in the second.

The Yemeni government said it seeks to release all detainees according to the "all for all" rule, accusing the Houthis of trying to fail the discussions by being selective or demanding the names of captives who are not detained by the government forces.

During the previous two release operations, the Houthi group released three of the four individuals included in UN Security Council Resolution 2216, including the brother of the former president Nasser Mansour, former Defense Minister Mahmoud al-Subaihi, and military commander Faisal Rajab.

The group still refuses to release Qahtan or provide information about his health condition. Qahtan's family is not allowed to communicate with him.

Meanwhile, the government warned of the Houthi threat in the Red Sea and their threat to international shipping and commercial shipping lines.

Last week, the Houthis seized the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the southern Red Sea, saying it was Israeli-owned.

The Yemeni government held a meeting in Aden to address the economic, financial, and monetary conditions and discuss the governor's report of the central bank.

The meeting stressed the importance of coordination with the Central Bank in implementing precautionary financial and monetary policies and rearranging priorities to help overcome difficult and exceptional circumstances, especially with the cessation of oil exports.

They discussed reforms, coordination between financial and monetary administrations, aspects of integration to control the exchange rates, and enhancing revenues.

According to official media, the government renewed its absolute rejection of the unprecedented Houthi terrorist act that targeted the safety and freedom of international navigation, saying it represents a terrorist attack that disregards the Palestinian-Arab cause, the Yemeni national interest, or international law.

The government warned that the Houthi action, which it described as "terrorist on behalf of the Iranian regime," would deepen the humanitarian crisis for the Yemeni people and increase the economic burdens.

The officials stressed that the best way to show solidarity and support the Palestinian cause is to unite the Arab and Islamic ranks in confronting the occupying Israeli government and take the necessary steps to stop its crimes until establishing an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state.



Israel Adds Tender for 2,167 Housing Units to Settlement Expansion Plan

Israeli bulldozers level land at the evacuated Israeli settlement of Sanur, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 23 December 2025. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli bulldozers level land at the evacuated Israeli settlement of Sanur, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 23 December 2025. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
TT

Israel Adds Tender for 2,167 Housing Units to Settlement Expansion Plan

Israeli bulldozers level land at the evacuated Israeli settlement of Sanur, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 23 December 2025. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli bulldozers level land at the evacuated Israeli settlement of Sanur, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 23 December 2025. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH

Israel has added ‌a tender for 2,167 housing units to its E1 settlement expansion plan, Israeli rights groups said of a project that critics say endangers a future Palestinian state.

The project would bisect the Israeli-occupied West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, fragmenting the land Palestinians hope will form the heart of a state, said Reuters.

The tender for 2,167 units is in addition to a tender for 1,234 units announced at the end of August, ‌bringing the ‌total number of housing units to 3,401, ‌Israeli ⁠rights group Ir ⁠Amim said in a statement issued late on Wednesday.

The decision was condemned by a representative for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday who said the E1 tenders were in violation of international law.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an ultra-nationalist in the governing right-wing coalition, has said ⁠the plan would "bury" a Palestinian state.

The ‌tender is scheduled to ‌open for bidding on October 25, two days before Israel is ‌due to hold a parliamentary election.

Ir Amim ‌said the bidding date showed the government's resolve to push ahead with the E1 project and "create an increasingly irreversible reality on the ground ahead of the elections."

The Prime Minister's Office did ‌not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Many Western states and campaign groups ⁠have opposed ⁠the E1 settlement project over concerns that it could undermine a future peace deal with the Palestinians.

Britain, France and Canada banned exports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank last week. British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has said the E1 project risks making a Palestinian state unviable.

Under Israel's right-wing coalition government there has been a massive expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

UN bodies, Palestinians and most countries view the settlements as illegal under international conventions — a stance disputed by Israel — and as a major obstacle to peace.


Palestinian Authority: US Denial of Abbas Visa to Attend UN 'Unjustified'

FILE PHOTO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appears on a screen as he addresses delegates during a high-level meeting of heads of state on a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians at United Nations headquarters in New York City, US, September 22, 2025. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appears on a screen as he addresses delegates during a high-level meeting of heads of state on a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians at United Nations headquarters in New York City, US, September 22, 2025. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo
TT

Palestinian Authority: US Denial of Abbas Visa to Attend UN 'Unjustified'

FILE PHOTO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appears on a screen as he addresses delegates during a high-level meeting of heads of state on a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians at United Nations headquarters in New York City, US, September 22, 2025. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appears on a screen as he addresses delegates during a high-level meeting of heads of state on a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians at United Nations headquarters in New York City, US, September 22, 2025. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

The Palestinian Authority on Thursday slammed a decision by the United States to refuse visas for its officials to attend the UN General Assembly in New York next week, a move which includes President Mahmoud Abbas.

In a statement, the Palestinian foreign ministry called it "an unjustified measure that runs counter to efforts to rebuild trust, develop Palestinian-US relations, and create the necessary political climate for implementing the two-state solution and achieving peace and stability.”

In a statement that did not mention Abbas by name, the State Department said Wednesday it would deny visas to members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and officials with the Palestinian Authority (PA), "as a consequence of their failure to reform, contrary to their commitments to the United States, and their ongoing activities that undermine the prospects for peace."

The Trump administration took the same step last year, forcing the Palestinian leader, a regular at the UN General Assembly, to address the body of global leadership by video.


South Lebanon Blasts Threaten Landscape, Could Activate Fault Lines; Beirut to File UN Complaint

Smoke rises from the town of Halta following Israeli shelling (National News Agency)
Smoke rises from the town of Halta following Israeli shelling (National News Agency)
TT

South Lebanon Blasts Threaten Landscape, Could Activate Fault Lines; Beirut to File UN Complaint

Smoke rises from the town of Halta following Israeli shelling (National News Agency)
Smoke rises from the town of Halta following Israeli shelling (National News Agency)

Israeli forces pushed into the border town of Halta in South Lebanon on Wednesday before withdrawing to its outskirts after conducting searches and sweeps, amid reports that a local resident had been abducted.

The incursion came as Lebanese concern mounted over the scale of Israeli demolitions in the south, with Environment Minister Tamara El Zein warning that their repercussions could extend beyond direct destruction to geological risks affecting public safety.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli forces withdrew from Halta after entering the town Wednesday morning, amid reports that resident Fadi Abdel Aal had been abducted. Troops searched several homes and conducted sweeps with machine guns, while bulldozers razed olive groves.

Israeli forces also blew up several houses, while other homes were reportedly vandalized and solar panels on the ground and rooftops smashed. Three mortar shells struck the town, including one near homes. Powerful explosions heard across several villages in the Arqoub area were traced to demolitions carried out by Israeli forces inside Halta.

The operation followed previous Israeli incursions, searches, arrests and bulldozing in Halta and its surroundings. The town lies in the Arqoub area of Hasbaya district, near Kfar Shuba, the Kfar Shuba Hills and Shebaa Farms, in a geographically and militarily sensitive border area.

Israel says its operations in South Lebanon are intended to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its capabilities near the border.

Elsewhere, Israeli artillery struck the outskirts of Kfar Shuba and Kfar Tibnit in Nabatieh. In the western sector, Israeli forces carried out powerful demolitions in Mansouri, south of Tyre, following similar explosions targeting homes and valleys at dawn that caused strong tremors felt in neighboring villages.

Geological concerns

El Zein warned that the succession of massive Israeli explosions posed risks beyond the extensive destruction they caused, citing potential geological damage and ground disturbances.

She pointed to the demolition of the Ali al-Taher ridge two weeks ago using about 1,100 tons of explosives. According to data from Lebanon’s National Center for Geophysics, she noted, the blast generated seismic waves comparable to a magnitude 4.2 earthquake.

El Zein highlighted the site’s proximity to the Roum Fault, about one kilometer away, and the Yammouneh Fault, about seven kilometers away, arguing that the location and scale of the explosion raised additional concerns.

She also cited the demolition in Majdal Zoun using about 80 tons of explosives, which generated waves comparable to a magnitude 3.1 tremor and, according to her, physically split the town in two.

Another explosion near Beaufort Castle involved about 700 tons of explosives and generated waves comparable to a magnitude 3.8 tremor, with vibrations felt at considerable distances, she added.

The minister cautioned that massive underground explosions could, under certain geological conditions and particularly near existing faults, cause movement or reactivate faults, potentially increasing seismic risks.

She stressed that the inability to determine with certainty the future consequences of such effects did not mean the risks should be minimized or ignored.

‘Reshaping the geography’

El Zein argued that the scale of the explosions should not be measured solely by their immediate destruction, describing the operations as going beyond their direct military dimension to the “reshaping of geography.”

She warned that violent ground motion could damage the natural and built environment, infrastructure and homes across a wide area.

The minister linked the explosions to what she described as “ecocide,” stressing that the Lebanese state and government must respond to the scale of the damage and risks rather than merely document and catalogue what she called war crimes.

El Zein presented the findings and concerns to the Cabinet, which tasked her with preparing a detailed report on the repercussions of the explosions. The report will be submitted to the Foreign Ministry for referral to the UN Security Council and other relevant international bodies.