Yemen Stresses its Sovereign Right, Holds Houthis Responsible for Escalation

The Houthi militias continue to threaten ships in the Red Sea. (AFP)
The Houthi militias continue to threaten ships in the Red Sea. (AFP)
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Yemen Stresses its Sovereign Right, Holds Houthis Responsible for Escalation

The Houthi militias continue to threaten ships in the Red Sea. (AFP)
The Houthi militias continue to threaten ships in the Red Sea. (AFP)

The internationally recognized Yemeni government held the Houthis fully responsible for turning the country into an “arena of confrontation” amid the Iran-backed militias’ attacks against Red Sea shipping, prompting western strikes against them.

In an official statement, the government said it was “following with great concern the military escalation in the country and the southern Red Sea, the most recent of which was the military operation in response to the Houthi militias’ continued targeting of the security and safety of international navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait...”

The government held the Houthis responsible for dragging the country into a military confrontation for propaganda purposes, which “have no real connection to supporting occupied Palestine.”

It stressed that it maintains the sovereign right to boost the security and safety of the Red Sea by restoring the legitimate state institutions.

The statement criticized some of the international community’s policies towards Yemen, saying they helped in strengthening the control of the Houthi militias and encouraged them to commit more hostile acts that today represent a threat to the security and stability of the entire world.

The government also renewed its firm position on the just Palestinian cause, demanding an end to the brutal Israeli aggression in the occupied territories and the fast delivery of humanitarian aid to the people, while warning of the repercussions of the war on international peace and security.

Elsewhere in Yemen, positions on the western strikes varied.

Yemeni writer and researcher Hamdan Al-Aly held the Houthis responsible and said that for more than 20 years, they have been killing Yemenis and destroying the country under the pretext of fighting America.

Journalist Nassim Al-Baini said the Houthis have dragged Yemen into an international war. He recalled the Presidential Leadership Council’s repeated warning against the consequences and repercussions of “terrorist attacks” in the Red Sea, and its assertion that these actions divert the world’s attention away from Israel’s aggressions against the Palestinians.

Majed Al-Madhaji, head of the Sanaa Center for Studies, said the US-British strikes will not undermine the Houthis’ ability to threaten the Red Sea. He explained that the scope and level of strikes would increase depending on the Houthi response.

In contrast to these positions, a number of journalists and activists affiliated with Al-Islah party opposed the US-British airstrikes, deeming them a violation of national sovereignty.

Writer and political analyst Nabil Al-Bakiri said any American-British raids targeting Houthi-controlled areas are an “aggression” against all of Yemen and a violation of its sovereignty.



Israeli Strikes Kill 12 People in Gaza, Keep up Pressure on North

Family members mourn next to the bodies of their loved ones at Nasser Hospital following an Israeli airstrike that claimed the lives of at least eight people in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 03 November 2024. (EPA)
Family members mourn next to the bodies of their loved ones at Nasser Hospital following an Israeli airstrike that claimed the lives of at least eight people in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 03 November 2024. (EPA)
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Israeli Strikes Kill 12 People in Gaza, Keep up Pressure on North

Family members mourn next to the bodies of their loved ones at Nasser Hospital following an Israeli airstrike that claimed the lives of at least eight people in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 03 November 2024. (EPA)
Family members mourn next to the bodies of their loved ones at Nasser Hospital following an Israeli airstrike that claimed the lives of at least eight people in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 03 November 2024. (EPA)

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 12 Palestinians in Gaza on Monday and residents said they feared new air and ground attacks and forced evacuations were aimed at emptying areas in the enclave's north to create buffer zones against Hamas fighters.

The UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said Israel was scaling back the number of aid trucks allowed into Gaza, compounding shortages of food, medicine and other essential supplies.

Israel denied this. But it said separately on Monday it had officially notified the United Nations that it was ending its relations with UNRWA, which has been a vital provider of aid to Palestinian civilians during the 13-month-long war between Israel and Hamas.

In the latest bloodshed, medics said seven people were killed in an attack on two houses in the north Gaza town of Beit Lahia on Monday. Five more were killed in separate strikes in central and southern parts of the enclave, medics told Reuters.

Several people were wounded in the attacks, they said, adding that Israeli forces had sent tanks into the northeast of Nuseirat camp earlier on Monday.

Israel deployed tanks into Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahia on Oct. 5, saying it intended to prevent Hamas fighters from regrouping.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli forces were continuing to bomb the Kamal Adwan Hospital and had injured many staff and patients.

"The medical staff cannot move between the hospital departments and cannot rescue their injured colleagues. It seems that a decision has been made to execute all the staff who refused to evacuate the hospital," it said.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on that situation.

Palestinians said the new offensives and orders for people to leave were "ethnic cleansing" aimed at emptying two northern Gaza towns and a refugee camp to create buffer zones. Israel denies this, saying it is combating Hamas fighters who launch attacks from there.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office put the number of Palestinians killed since Oct. 5 at 1,800. It said 4,000 others were wounded.

There was no confirmation on the figure from the territory's health ministry and Israel has repeatedly accused the Hamas media office of exaggerating the figures of the dead.

Israel says its forces have killed hundreds of Palestinian gunmen and dismantled military infrastructure in Jabalia in the past month.

More than 43,300 Palestinians have been killed in more than a year of war in Gaza, according to Gaza authorities, and much of the territory has been reduced to ruins.

The war erupted after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

'UNSPEAKABLE SUFFERING'

UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said on Monday that Israel has scaled back the entry of aid trucks into the Gaza Strip to an average of 30 trucks a day, the lowest in a long time. This represented only 6 percent of the commercial and humanitarian supplies that used to enter Gaza before the war, he said.

"This cannot meet the needs of 2 million people, many of whom are starving, sick, and in desperate conditions," Lazzarini said on X.

An Israeli government spokesman said no limit had been imposed on aid entering Gaza, with 47 aid trucks entering northern Gaza on Sunday alone.

Israeli statistics reviewed by Reuters last week showed that aid shipments allowed into Gaza in October remained at their lowest levels since October 2023.

Earlier on Monday, Israel's foreign ministry said it had officially notified the United Nations it was cancelling the agreement that regulated its relations with UNRWA since 1967 - effectively banning it.

"Restricting humanitarian access and at the same time dismantling UNRWA will add an additional layer of suffering to already unspeakable suffering," Lazzarini said.