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US Names New Special Envoy to Sudan in Push to End War

Smoke rises above buildings in the vicinity of Khartoum Airport. (AFP)
Smoke rises above buildings in the vicinity of Khartoum Airport. (AFP)
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US Names New Special Envoy to Sudan in Push to End War

Smoke rises above buildings in the vicinity of Khartoum Airport. (AFP)
Smoke rises above buildings in the vicinity of Khartoum Airport. (AFP)

The United States appointed a new special envoy for Sudan on Monday, as Washington seeks to bring an end to a war that has wrecked parts of the country and killed tens of thousands.

Former diplomat and US member of Congress Tom Perriello will assume the special envoy role, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement provided to Reuters ahead of the announcement, as the US seeks to bring increased focus to the conflict after the failure of talks so far.

In a statement, Perriello said he will build on efforts of partners across Africa and the Middle East to bring an end to the war, a humanitarian crisis and atrocities.

"This appointment reflects the urgency and importance President Biden and Secretary Blinken have placed on ending this war, putting a stop to rampant atrocities against civilians, and preventing an already horrific humanitarian situation from becoming a catastrophic famine," Perriello said.

The US Ambassador to Sudan John Godfrey has left his role, Blinken said in the statement.

Daniel Rubinstein will serve as interim charge d'affaires as director of the Office of Sudan Affairs, Blinken said. He will be based in Ethiopia.

War broke out in Sudan last April over disputes about the powers of the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under an internationally-backed plan for a political transition towards civilian rule and elections.

The army and the RSF had shared power with civilians after the fall of former leader Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising in 2019, before staging a coup two years later.

The fighting has wrecked parts of Sudan including the capital Khartoum, killed more than 13,000 people according to UN estimates, drawn warnings of famine, and created an internal displacement crisis.

The Rapid Support Forces are accused by the US of participating in an ethnic cleansing campaign in West Darfur, along with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The army, which has carried out a widespread airstrike campaign, is also accused of war crimes by the US.

Perriello previously served as special envoy for the Great Lakes region of Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and as a US representative from Virginia.

Rubinstein recently led the US delegation at talks on Sudan in the Saudi city of Jeddah. Neither side maintained commitments made in the talks.

The US military evacuated American government personnel from Khartoum in April last year and suspended operations at its embassy there after fighting between Sudan's rival commanders broke out.

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Arab World

Talks Over Gaza Ceasefire at Stalemate After Rafah Operation, Qatar PM Says 

A Palestinian boy looks out his tent in a Rafah displacement camp in the southern Gaza Strip on May 13, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas group. (AFP)
A Palestinian boy looks out his tent in a Rafah displacement camp in the southern Gaza Strip on May 13, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas group. (AFP)
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Talks Over Gaza Ceasefire at Stalemate After Rafah Operation, Qatar PM Says 

A Palestinian boy looks out his tent in a Rafah displacement camp in the southern Gaza Strip on May 13, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas group. (AFP)
A Palestinian boy looks out his tent in a Rafah displacement camp in the southern Gaza Strip on May 13, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas group. (AFP)

Talks over a ceasefire in Gaza have reached a stalemate due to Israel's operations in Rafah, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said on Tuesday.

Israeli operations in Rafah, which started this month, have closed a main crossing point for aid from the border with Egypt a move humanitarian groups say has worsened an already dire situation.

"Especially in the past few weeks, we have seen some momentum building but unfortunately, things didn't move in the right direction and right now we are in a status of almost a stalemate. Of course, what happened with Rafah sent us backward," Sheikh Mohammed said at an economic forum in Doha.

Sheikh Mohammed, whose country has mediated heavily between Palestinian group Hamas and Israel throughout the seven-month conflict, said Qatar would keep working to resolve the situation.

"We make it very clear for everyone: our job is limited to our mediation," he said. "That's what we will do, that what we will continue to do."

Sheikh Mohammed said the fundamental difference between the two parties was over the release of hostages and ending the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip, say health officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave. The war began when Hamas gunmen attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

"There is one party that wants to end the war and then talk about the hostages and there is another party who wants the hostages and wants to continue the war. As long as there is not any commonality between those two things it won't get us to a result," Sheikh Mohammed said.

Arab World

Red Cross Sets Up Rafah Emergency Field Hospital

A logo of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is pictured in Geneva, Switzerland March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
A logo of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is pictured in Geneva, Switzerland March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
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Red Cross Sets Up Rafah Emergency Field Hospital

A logo of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is pictured in Geneva, Switzerland March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
A logo of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is pictured in Geneva, Switzerland March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

The International Red Cross and partners are opening a field hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday to try to meet what it described as "overwhelming" demand for health services since Israel's military operation on Rafah began last week.
Some health clinics have suspended activities while patients and medics have fled from a major hospital as Israel has stepped up bombardments in the southern sliver of Gaza where hundreds of thousands of uprooted people are crowded together, said Reuters.
"People in Gaza are struggling to access the medical care they urgently need due, in part, to the overwhelming demands for health services and the reduced number of functioning health facilities," the International Committee of the Red Cross said. "Doctors and nurses have been working around the clock, but their capacity has been stretched beyond its limit."
Staff at the new facility will be able to treat around 200 people a day and can provide emergency surgical care and manage mass casualties as well as provide pediatric and other services, the ICRC said.
"Medical staff are faced with people arriving with severe injuries, increasing communicable diseases which could lead to potential outbreaks, and complications related to chronic diseases untreated that should have been treated days earlier."
The ICRC will maintain medical supplies to the facility while the Red Cross societies from 11 countries including Canada, Germany, Norway and Japan are providing staff and equipment.

Arab World

Amnesty International Says Syria Still Not Safe for Returnees to Go Back To

Syrian refugees gather near trucks, as they prepare to go back home to Syria, in the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Syrian refugees gather near trucks, as they prepare to go back home to Syria, in the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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Amnesty International Says Syria Still Not Safe for Returnees to Go Back To

Syrian refugees gather near trucks, as they prepare to go back home to Syria, in the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Syrian refugees gather near trucks, as they prepare to go back home to Syria, in the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Amnesty International said that Lebanon’s decision to resume the “voluntary return” of Syrian refugees to their homeland is “worrying” in light of the difficult circumstances these refugees are enduring in the crisis-hit country.
On X social media platform, the organization said that Lebanon has adopted a series of measures that aim at pressuring the refugees into returning to their country, and has imposed new restrictions regarding their residency, work and transportation.
Amnesty said that such measures raise concerns about the Syrian refugees’ ability to “freely consent” to their return back to war-torn Syria.
According to Amnesty, Syria is still an unsafe country for refugees to return to. It said that refugees detained in Syria were subjected to “torture, ill-treatment, including beatings and sexual violence”.
Amnesty also stated that Lebanon must respect its international obligations and humanitarian rights and halt the collective return of Syrian refugees.

Arab World

US Calls on Iran to Halt Weapons Transfers to Yemen's Houthis

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 13: Members of the United Nations Security Council listen as Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs Ambassador Robert Wood speaks during a meeting on the war in Gaza on at the United Nations headquarters May 13, 2024 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 13: Members of the United Nations Security Council listen as Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs Ambassador Robert Wood speaks during a meeting on the war in Gaza on at the United Nations headquarters May 13, 2024 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP
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US Calls on Iran to Halt Weapons Transfers to Yemen's Houthis

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 13: Members of the United Nations Security Council listen as Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs Ambassador Robert Wood speaks during a meeting on the war in Gaza on at the United Nations headquarters May 13, 2024 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 13: Members of the United Nations Security Council listen as Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs Ambassador Robert Wood speaks during a meeting on the war in Gaza on at the United Nations headquarters May 13, 2024 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP

The United States called on Iran on Monday to halt its transfer of an “unprecedented” amount of weaponry to Yemen’s Houthi militias, enabling their fighters to carry out “reckless attacks” on ships in the Red Sea and elsewhere.

US deputy ambassador Robert Wood told the UN Security Council that if it wants to make progress toward ending the civil war in Yemen, it should collectively “call Iran out for its destabilizing role and insist that it cannot hide behind the Houthis.”

He said there is extensive evidence that Iran is providing advanced weapons, including ballistic and cruise missiles, to the Houthis in violation of UN sanctions.

“To underscore the council’s concern regarding the ongoing violations of the arms embargo, we must do more to strengthen enforcement and deter sanctions violators,” Wood said.

The Houthis say their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are aimed at pressuring Israel to end its war with Hamas in Gaza.
The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, the US Maritime Administration said late last month.

Hans Grundberg, the UN special envoy for Yemen, warned the council that “hostilities continue,” even though there has been a reduction in attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, as well as a reduction in the number of US and British airstrikes on targets in Yemen.

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council that the Israeli announcement on May 6 that it was starting its military operation in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, where 1.2 million Palestinians had sought safety, ratcheted up the spiral of escalation in the region “another notch further.”
“There’s no doubt that this will have an impact on the situation in Yemen’s surrounding waters,” he said, noting the Houthis’ opposition to Israeli attacks that harm Palestinian civilians.
“We call for a swift cessation of the shelling of commercial vessels and any other actions that hamper maritime navigation," Nebenzia added.
He sharply criticized the United States and its Western allies, saying their “totally unjustified aggressive strikes” in Yemen violate the UN Charter. He said they further complicate an already complex situation in the Red Sea.

Arab World

Lebanon Resumes Trips for Syrian Refugees’ Voluntary Return to Their Country

A Syrian refugee camp in the Lebanese town of Arsal in the eastern Bekaa region. (AP)
A Syrian refugee camp in the Lebanese town of Arsal in the eastern Bekaa region. (AP)
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Lebanon Resumes Trips for Syrian Refugees’ Voluntary Return to Their Country

A Syrian refugee camp in the Lebanese town of Arsal in the eastern Bekaa region. (AP)
A Syrian refugee camp in the Lebanese town of Arsal in the eastern Bekaa region. (AP)

Lebanon will resume on Tuesday trips for Syrian refugees who have volunteered to return to their country.

The General Security directorate will operate two trips involving 300 refugees. The first convoy, carrying only ten refugees, will return through the Jousseh crossing in the al-Qaa region and head towards Syria’s Homs.

The second convoy will transport the remaining refugees and head towards the al-Qalamoun region. It will enter Syria through the illegal al-Zamarani crossing and will be received by Syrian security forces.

The majority of the returnees opted to head back home through illegal crossings because that allows them to transport their tents, furniture, cattle and vehicles. They are not allowed to do so through legal crossings, explained sources monitoring the process.

Security sources said the development was “indication of seriousness in handling the refugee file” even though the returning numbers are quite low in this first phase.

The two trips will “kickstart the beginning of addressing the Syrian refugee file as a whole,” they told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The voluntary return “has been put on the right track” and it is being handled seriously this time after about seven months since the last time refugees returned home, they continued.

They added that the security forces have set up a center in the border town of Arsal to receive and register refugees who are willing to return home.

The Syrian authorities have been cooperative with Lebanon’s efforts to ensure their return.

Syrian Mohammed Abdulaziz, who has been tasked with preparing the refugees for their return, revealed that several people have registered to voluntarily go back to their homes in the western al-Qalamoun and Damascus countryside regions.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said 50 more families have signed up to go back, but their names have yet to be referred to the general secretariat tasked with coordinating their file with Lebanon’s General Security.

He stressed that “all eyes are on Tuesday’s trips. If they pass smoothly, then more refugees will sign up to go home.”

Fierce debate has raged in Lebanon about the Syrian refugees given the social tensions that have emerged over their continued presence in the country.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said criticism levelled against his government over this file have been aimed at “distracting it with pointless debates and disputes.”

“We will forge ahead with our work and in implementing decisions we have taken responsibly and with a clear conscience,” he added.

Arab World

Hezbollah Head: Displaced Israeli Northerners Will Not Return Home if Gaza War Persists

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivers a speech via a screen during a rally, in a suburb outside Beirut, Lebanon, 13 May 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivers a speech via a screen during a rally, in a suburb outside Beirut, Lebanon, 13 May 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
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Hezbollah Head: Displaced Israeli Northerners Will Not Return Home if Gaza War Persists

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivers a speech via a screen during a rally, in a suburb outside Beirut, Lebanon, 13 May 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivers a speech via a screen during a rally, in a suburb outside Beirut, Lebanon, 13 May 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

The head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said on Monday that residents of northern Israel would not be able to return home for the start of the next school year if their government pressed on with its offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with the Israeli military across Lebanon's southern border in parallel with the Gaza war. The armed group has said it is launching rockets at Israel both to support its ally, Palestinian armed group Hamas, and to deter Israel from launching an attack on Lebanon.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 350 people in Lebanon, most of them fighters with Hezbollah and allied groups but also including more than 50 civilians. In Israel, strikes from Lebanon have killed at least 10 civilians and 12 soldiers.

In a televised address on Monday, Nasrallah repeated that his group would keep fighting as long as Israel continued its assault of Gaza.
"The link between the supportive Lebanese front and Gaza is definitive, final and conclusive," he said. "No one will be able to de-link them."
The fighting has displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border and prompted fears of a bigger war between the heavily-armed adversaries.
Israel has said it wants to secure the north for residents to return home, either through a mediated diplomatic agreement or a military attack against Lebanon. Families displaced from northern Israel had been hoping to return home by September 1 for the start of the academic school year.
Nasrallah addressed the displaced on Monday, saying: "if you want to solve the issue, go to your government and tell them to stop the war on Gaza."

The Israeli military also continued strikes on Lebanon over the weekend and on Monday, security sources said. Hezbollah has responded with rocket fire, and Nasrallah said his group was "continuing to develop its operations in quantity and quality.”

Arab World

Palestinians Mark 76 Years of Dispossession as a Potentially Even Larger Catastrophe Unfolds in Gaza

FILE - Displaced Palestinians arrive in central Gaza after fleeing from the southern Gaza city of Rafah in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)
FILE - Displaced Palestinians arrive in central Gaza after fleeing from the southern Gaza city of Rafah in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)
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Palestinians Mark 76 Years of Dispossession as a Potentially Even Larger Catastrophe Unfolds in Gaza

FILE - Displaced Palestinians arrive in central Gaza after fleeing from the southern Gaza city of Rafah in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)
FILE - Displaced Palestinians arrive in central Gaza after fleeing from the southern Gaza city of Rafah in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)

Palestinians on Wednesday will mark the 76th year of their mass expulsion from what is now Israel, an event that is at the core of their national struggle. But in many ways, that experience pales in comparison to the calamity now unfolding in Gaza.
Palestinians refer to it as the "Nakba," Arabic for "catastrophe." Some 700,000 Palestinians - a majority of the prewar population - fled or were driven from their homes before and during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that followed Israel's establishment, The Associated Press said.
After the war, Israel refused to allow them to return because it would have resulted in a Palestinian majority within its borders. Instead, they became a seemingly permanent refugee community that now numbers some 6 million, with most living in slum-like urban refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
In Gaza, the refugees and their descendants make up around three-quarters of the population.
Israel's rejection of what Palestinians say is their right of return has been a core grievance in the conflict and was one of the thorniest issues in peace talks that last collapsed 15 years ago. The refugee camps have always been the main bastions of Palestinian militancy.
Now, many Palestinians fear a repeat of their painful history on an even more cataclysmic scale.
All across Gaza, Palestinians in recent days have been loading up cars and donkey carts or setting out on foot to already overcrowded tent camps as Israel expands its offensive. The images from several rounds of mass evacuations throughout the seven-month war are strikingly similar to black-and-white photographs from 1948.
Mustafa al-Gazzar, now 81, still recalls his family's monthslong flight from their village in what is now central Israel to the southern city of Rafah, when he was 5. At one point they were bombed from the air, at another, they dug holes under a tree to sleep in for warmth.
Al-Gazzar, now a great-grandfather, was forced to flee again over the weekend, this time to a tent in Muwasi, a barren coastal area where some 450,000 Palestinians live in a squalid camp. He says the conditions are worse than in 1948, when the UN agency for Palestinian refugees was able to regularly provide food and other essentials.
"My hope in 1948 was to return, but my hope today is to survive," he said. "I live in such fear," he added, breaking into tears. "I cannot provide for my children and grandchildren."
The war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel, has killed over 35,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, making it by far the deadliest round of fighting in the history of the conflict. The initial Hamas attack killed some 1,200 Israelis.
The war has forced some 1.7 million Palestinians - around three quarters of the territory's population - to flee their homes, often multiple times. That is well over twice the number that fled before and during the 1948 war.
Israel has sealed its border. Egypt has only allowed a small number of Palestinians to leave, in part because it fears a mass influx of Palestinians could generate another long-term refugee crisis.
The international community is strongly opposed to any mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza - an idea embraced by far-right members of the Israeli government, who refer to it as "voluntary emigration."
Israel has long called for the refugees of 1948 to be absorbed into host countries, saying that calls for their return are unrealistic and would endanger its existence as a Jewish-majority state. It points to the hundreds of thousands of Jews who came to Israel from Arab countries during the turmoil following its establishment, though few of them want to return.
Even if Palestinians are not expelled from Gaza en masse, many fear that they will never be able to return to their homes or that the destruction wreaked on the territory will make it impossible to live there. A recent UN estimate said it would take until 2040 to rebuild destroyed homes.
The Jewish militias in the 1948 war were mainly armed with lighter weapons like rifles, machine guns and mortars. Hundreds of depopulated Palestinian villages were demolished after the war, while Israelis moved into Palestinian homes in Jerusalem, Jaffa and other cities.
In Gaza, Israel has unleashed one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, at times dropping 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) bombs on dense, residential areas. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to wastelands of rubble and plowed-up roads, many littered with unexploded bombs.
The World Bank estimates that $18.5 billion in damage has been inflicted on Gaza, roughly equivalent to the gross domestic product of the entire Palestinian territories in 2022. And that was in January, in the early days of Israel´s devastating ground operations in Khan Younis and before it went into Rafah.
Yara Asi, a Palestinian assistant professor at the University of Central Florida who has done research on the damage to civilian infrastructure in the war, says it's "extremely difficult" to imagine the kind of international effort that would be necessary to rebuild Gaza.
Even before the war, many Palestinians spoke of an ongoing Nakba, in which Israel gradually forces them out of Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories it captured during the 1967 war that the Palestinians want for a future state. They point to home demolitions, settlement construction and other discriminatory policies that long predate the war, and which major rights groups say amount to apartheid, allegations Israel denies.
Asi and others fear that if another genuine Nakba occurs, it will be in the form of a gradual departure.
"It won´t be called forcible displacement in some cases. It will be called emigration, it will be called something else," Asi said.
"But in essence, it is people who wish to stay, who have done everything in their power to stay for generations in impossible conditions, finally reaching a point where life is just not livable".

Arab World

UN Yemen Envoy Worried About Threats to Return to War, Houthi Rhetoric towards Marib

United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg delivers his briefing before the UN Security Council on Monday. (AFP)
United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg delivers his briefing before the UN Security Council on Monday. (AFP)
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UN Yemen Envoy Worried About Threats to Return to War, Houthi Rhetoric towards Marib

United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg delivers his briefing before the UN Security Council on Monday. (AFP)
United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg delivers his briefing before the UN Security Council on Monday. (AFP)

United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg renewed on Monday his fear about threats to return to war, also expressing his concern about the Iran-backed Houthi militias’ rhetoric towards Marib.

During his monthly briefing to the UN Security Council, he said he met in the interim capital Aden Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi, and Vice President Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, Prime Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak and Foreign Minister Shayea Al-Zindani.

“We have discussed the urgent need to address the deteriorating living conditions for Yemenis and make progress toward securing a roadmap agreement that ends the war and opens a path to just peace,” added the envoy. “I am encouraged by the constructive environment that these meetings were conducted in.”

“In December last year, through dialogue, diplomacy, and negotiation, the parties took a courageous step towards a peaceful solution for Yemen when they agreed to a set of commitments to be operationalized through a UN roadmap,” he went on to say.

“These commitments would provide for a nationwide ceasefire, ensure much-needed relief for Yemenis, and initiate an inclusive political process to sustainably end the conflict,” he remarked.

Grundberg acknowledged, however, that the challenges that he brought up in previous briefings are still impeding his progress, “most critically the precarious environment in the wider region.”

“With the regional situation continuing to complicate our ability to achieve progress in Yemen, I reiterate the United Nations Secretary-General’s call for a ceasefire in Gaza and I urge all involved to de-escalate the situation in the Red Sea and its vicinity,” he stressed.

“Inside Yemen, the security situation along the frontlines has remained contained in the past month. Still, I am concerned about the continuation of military activity in the form of shelling, sniper fire, intermittent fighting, drone attacks and troop movements in Dhale, Hodeidah, Lahj, Marib, Saadah, Shabwa, and Taiz,” he added.

On April 27, two women and three girls were killed in the Taiz governorate by a drone attack while collecting water near their home. “This highlights the dire risks to civilians in the currently unresolved situation,” noted the envoy.

Violence not the answer

Moreover, Grundberg said he was also concerned “about the parties’ threats to return to war, including the Houthi rhetoric and actions in relation to Marib.”

“Let me be clear, further violence will not resolve the conflict. On the contrary, it will only exacerbate the suffering we see today and risk losing the opportunity for a political settlement. Again, I urge the parties to exercise maximum restraint in both their actions and their words during this fragile period,” he demanded.

Despite the challenges, he said a “peaceful and just solution remains possible.”

“Yemenis are calling for equality as citizens before the law. For a chance to tap into their country’s true economic potential. And for functioning services and good governance. These calls ultimately require an agreement to end the war and to begin a political process,” stated Grundberg.

The envoy said he was continuing engagements with the parties to make progress on the UN Roadmap, with the support of the international community and the region, notably Saudi Arabia and Oman.

He revealed that currently, his office is engaged with Yemenis to facilitate the release of conflict-related detainees, the opening of roads, and improvements in the economic and financial sector.

“I continue preparations for a nationwide ceasefire and the resumption of an inclusive political process. To this end, my office is engaging with diverse actors such as local authority representatives, security actors and military officials, economic policy makers, civil society actors, journalists, community leaders, local mediators, and representatives of the private sector,” he added.

“I continue to prioritize the Women, Peace, and Security agenda, and my office has recently organized several meetings together with Yemenis on how to enhance women’s meaningful participation in all aspects of the peace process,” he revealed.

Furthermore, Grundberg said: “I am determined to continue directing all my efforts toward enabling Yemenis to reach a nationwide ceasefire and start an inclusive political process that lays the foundations for a lasting peace.”

“To make these shared aspirations possible, I will need to draw on the support of the region and this Council,” he stressed.

Arab World

Five Iraqi Soldiers Killed in ISIS Attack

A member of the Iraqi security forces. AFP
A member of the Iraqi security forces. AFP
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Five Iraqi Soldiers Killed in ISIS Attack

A member of the Iraqi security forces. AFP
A member of the Iraqi security forces. AFP

An Iraqi commanding officer and four soldiers were killed and five others injured on Monday in an attack by suspected ISIS militants on an army post in eastern Iraq, two security sources said.
The attack took place between Diyala and Salahuddin provinces, a rural area that remains a hotbed of activity for militant cells years after Iraq declared final victory over the extremist group in 2017.
Iraq's defense ministry issued a statement mourning the loss of a colonel and "a number of heroic fighters of the regiment as a result of their response to a terrorist attack," Reuters reported.
Security forces repelled the attack but there were many casualties in the process, the statement added.

Arab World

White House Sees No Genocide in Gaza, Condemns Aid Convoy Attacks 

Displaced Palestinians arrive in central Gaza after fleeing from the southern Gaza city of Rafah in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians arrive in central Gaza after fleeing from the southern Gaza city of Rafah in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (AP)
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White House Sees No Genocide in Gaza, Condemns Aid Convoy Attacks 

Displaced Palestinians arrive in central Gaza after fleeing from the southern Gaza city of Rafah in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians arrive in central Gaza after fleeing from the southern Gaza city of Rafah in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (AP)

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday that President Joe Biden's administration does not view the killings of Palestinians in Gaza by Israel in its war with Hamas as genocide.

Sullivan said the United States wants to see Hamas defeated. He also said that Palestinians caught in the middle of the war were in "hell" and that a major military operation by Israel in Rafah would be a mistake.

"We do not believe what is happening in Gaza is a genocide. We have been firmly on record rejecting that proposition," Sullivan told reporters at the White House.

Sullivan expressed concern about reports of Israeli settlers attacking a humanitarian aid convoy on its way to Erez Crossing in northern Gaza, the second such incident in less than a week.

"It is a total outrage that there are people who are attacking and looting these conveys," Sullivan said. "It is completely and utterly unacceptable behavior."

Biden, who is running for re-election this year, has faced heavy criticism from his own supporters domestically for his support of Israel; some of those critics have accused Israel of committing genocide. More than 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza have died, according to Gaza health officials.

Biden has sought to influence Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's approach to the war, but Israel is a sovereign, democratic nation that ultimately makes its own decisions, Sullivan said.

"The prime minister doesn't have to answer to us. He's got to answer to the Israeli people," Sullivan said.

Reiterating a comment made by Biden on Saturday, Sullivan said there could be a ceasefire in Gaza now if Hamas would release hostages. The world should be calling on Hamas to return to the negotiating table and accept a deal, Sullivan said.

The United States is working urgently for a ceasefire and hostage-release deal, Sullivan said. He said he could not predict when or if such a deal would be sealed.