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UN Warns of Four-Month Lean Period in Yemen

The number of households experiencing inadequate food consumption has increased to 49 percent across Yemen, said a FAO report. (Local media)
The number of households experiencing inadequate food consumption has increased to 49 percent across Yemen, said a FAO report. (Local media)
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UN Warns of Four-Month Lean Period in Yemen

The number of households experiencing inadequate food consumption has increased to 49 percent across Yemen, said a FAO report. (Local media)
The number of households experiencing inadequate food consumption has increased to 49 percent across Yemen, said a FAO report. (Local media)

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that Yemen would be facing a lean period from June to September due to a decrease in humanitarian food assistance in Houthi-controlled areas and a projected increase in food prices in areas held by the legitimate government.

In its quarterly food security update, the FAO said that despite a brief relief experienced from mid-March through April this year due to augmented social support (zakat) during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, food security is anticipated to deteriorate from June to September, marking “the peak of the lean period in the country.”

FAO noted that during the first quarter of 2024, the food security situation deteriorated compared to the same period last year.

Therefore, the number of households experiencing inadequate food consumption has increased to 49 percent nationwide.

The organization expected these deteriorations to persist, adding that household purchasing power has significantly decreased due to the decline in seasonal agricultural and casual labor opportunities. In addition, civil servants are facing extreme delayed salary payments amid a challenging economic outlook while reduced humanitarian food assistance is increasing dependence on markets, it showed.

The report noted that despite increased disruptions in the Red Sea, the importation of food and fuel imports continue normally, ensuring sufficient food supplies in the markets.

Moreover, the report said political violence fell to historic lows as the attention has been shifted to the Red Sea and consequently, there was a drop in new internal displacements of people.

According to FAO High Frequency Monitoring, the proportion of households with inadequate food consumption nationally rose to 49 percent in March 2024, up from 43 percent in the last quarter and 47 percent during the same month last year.

In Houthi-controlled areas, inadequate food consumption in March 2024 showed an increase from 6 to 8 percent higher than in the same quarter of 2023.

In the first quarter of 2024, the FAO report said most of the governorates experiencing the largest declines in food consumption are in Houthi-controlled areas, including Al-Jawf, Hajja, Taiz, Saadah, Marib and Raymah, compared to Aden and Hadramout in government-controlled areas.

Field reports also indicated a surge in the number of malnourished children during the period under review.

The cholera situation in Yemen, spanning from March 14 to April 2, 2024, continues to raise concerns, FAO said.

The Ministry of Health counted a total of 7,364 suspected cases. Among these, there are 260 confirmed cases and 66 deaths. The primary sources of contamination are raw vegetables and fruits (67%) and water (33%).

Approximately 71.4 percent of surveyed households reported a decline in their primary income, a significant increase from the 61 percent recorded during the same period in 2023, the FAO report noted.

It added that in March 2024, agricultural casual labor income decreased for 71% of households in SBA areas, compared to 60.3% in the same month in 2023.

And despite an average increase in agricultural and casual labor rates by 13-14% in the government areas in March, these rates remained relatively stable in Houthi-controlled areas.

Meanwhile, labor opportunities have decreased year on year, leading to reduced household income in March 2024, as indicated by 26% of households reporting reduced income as a major shock, a significant rise from 12.4% the previous year, relatively higher in Houthi-controlled areas (28%) than in the legitimate government areas (20%).

The report said various regions, including Al-Bayda, Sanaa, Dhamar, Hadramout, Hajjah, Lahj, Raymah, Shabwah and Taiz, reported higher income reductions than during the same period the year before.

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Arab World

Israel PM Says Orders Army to Take Control of 70 Percent of Gaza Strip

Palestinians gather on a heavily damaged street to perform morning prayers marking the start of Eid al-Adha in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 27, 2026. (AFP)
Palestinians gather on a heavily damaged street to perform morning prayers marking the start of Eid al-Adha in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 27, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel PM Says Orders Army to Take Control of 70 Percent of Gaza Strip

Palestinians gather on a heavily damaged street to perform morning prayers marking the start of Eid al-Adha in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 27, 2026. (AFP)
Palestinians gather on a heavily damaged street to perform morning prayers marking the start of Eid al-Adha in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 27, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he had ordered the country's military to take control of 70 percent of the Gaza Strip, in defiance of the terms of a fragile ceasefire that took effect in October.

"We are currently squeezing Hamas. We now control 60 percent of the territory in the strip," he said at a conference in an occupied West Bank settlement, according to a video aired by Israel's Channel 12 network.

He said the military had controlled 50 percent of Gaza under the terms of the ceasefire, adding: "My directive is to move to... 70 percent".

"We're squeezing them from all (sides). We'll deal with what's left afterwards."

The first phase of the truce saw the last hostages seized in Hamas's October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza, released in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.

The transition to the second phase, which was supposed to involve Hamas's disarmament and a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli army, has been stalled for months.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israeli forces were to pull back behind a so-called "yellow line", a demarcation between the area under Hamas control and that held by the Israeli army.

Netanyahu announced on May 15 that the Israeli army had expanded its grip on the Gaza Strip.

"There were those who said: get out, get out. We did not get out. Today we control... how much? 60 percent. Tomorrow we shall see," he said at the time.

Gaza remains gripped by daily violence, with both the Israeli military and Hamas accusing one another of violating the truce in effect since October 10.

Israel has killed more than 900 people since the ceasefire, according to Gaza's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

Israel said on Wednesday it had killed the new head of Hamas's armed wing in Gaza, Mohammed Odeh, after killing his predecessor earlier this month.

Since Hamas's October 2023 attack, Israel has systematically targeted the group's leaders, both in Gaza and across the region.

Odeh is the fourth head of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades that Israel says it has killed since the start of the Gaza war.

On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz repeated Israel's goal of ending Hamas's rule over the Palestinian territory and alluded to a plan for the forced displacement of its residents.

"The plan for voluntary migration from Gaza will also be implemented -- everything will be done at the right time and in the right way," he said.

Arab World

Between Bringing Down Governments and Losing Control: Hezbollah Faces a New Political Equation

The Lebanese government in session chaired by President Joseph Aoun (Lebanese Presidency)
The Lebanese government in session chaired by President Joseph Aoun (Lebanese Presidency)
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Between Bringing Down Governments and Losing Control: Hezbollah Faces a New Political Equation

The Lebanese government in session chaired by President Joseph Aoun (Lebanese Presidency)
The Lebanese government in session chaired by President Joseph Aoun (Lebanese Presidency)

Since becoming involved politics in 1992, Hezbollah gradually evolved from a parliamentary player with limited influence into a central force in Lebanon’s governing equation. The group first engaged in legislative work and did not directly join governments until 2005, following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

Since then, Hezbollah has sought to impose its control and influence over successive governments, obstructing some and bringing down others after introducing the concepts of the “blocking third” and consensual decision-making, while it and its ally the Amal Movement monopolized the entire Shiite ministerial share to use as leverage to topple governments or prevent them from functioning.

In this context, remarks by Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem that “people have the right to take to the streets, bring down the government and bring down the US-Israeli project” did not come as a surprise to those who have closely followed Hezbollah’s conduct over the years in both the formation and collapse of governments. The same applies to comments by Hezbollah Political Council member and former minister Mahmoud Qamati, who said: “The president or anyone else, with a government majority, wants to target the resistance during this era. They should know that they are a passing side that comes and goes, while we are deeply rooted in this country.”

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem

A Long Path of Pressuring Governments

Hezbollah’s first attempt to pressure the government in a bid to bring it down dates back to 2006, when it and the Amal Movement withdrew their ministers from the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora in protest against the vote in favor of establishing the international tribunal to prosecute Hariri’s killers.

The “Shiite duo” and the Free Patriotic Movement then organized a lengthy sit-in in downtown Beirut on the grounds that the government lacked sectarian legitimacy. Nevertheless, the cabinet continued functioning until May 2008, when Hezbollah launched a military move in Beirut and parts of Mount Lebanon in response to government decisions concerning its telecommunications network.

That escalation led Lebanese factions to convene in Qatar, resulting in what became known as the Doha Agreement, through which Hezbollah secured the “blocking third,” meaning that it and its allies obtained one-third of cabinet seats, enabling them to bring down the government.

That scenario materialized in 2011, when Hezbollah and its allies withdrew their ministers from the government of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, leading to its collapse.

Former Lebanese finance minister, current member of parliament and a high ranking member of the Shiite Muslim Amal movement Ali Hasan Khalil (L), points as he stands next to Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam during his visit to the heavily-damaged southern village of Kfar Shouba, near the border with Israel on February 8, 2026.(Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

Salam Government “Freed” From Hezbollah’s Grip

Subsequent governments were formed with Hezbollah and its allies holding the “blocking third,” allowing them to control the decisions and fate of successive cabinets. Six governments were formed from 2011 onward, culminating in the current government headed by Nawaf Salam, which is considered the first government since 2008 to break free from Hezbollah’s dominance through the “blocking third.”

As a result, Hezbollah failed to prevent the government from adopting decisions placing arms exclusively under state control, classifying its military wing as illegitimate, and passing other measures opposed and criticized by the group.

Ali al-Amin, political writer and editor-in-chief of the Janoubia website, said Hezbollah had, since the Doha Agreement, “sought to blackmail successive governments through the invention of concepts such as the ‘guaranteeing third,’ consensus, or legitimacy.”

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Amin said that “during the current phase, specifically under the present government, the equations have completely changed. The government was formed on different foundations reflecting the new political balance.”

He added that “even if Hezbollah believes bringing down the current government through street pressure is possible, it realizes that forming another government on its own terms is no longer feasible. Therefore, its current threats to topple the government amount to intimidation and rhetorical escalation, nothing more than an expression of the predicament the party is facing, reflected in Sheikh Naim Qassem’s contradictory rhetoric.”

He added that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is unlikely to support Hezbollah in such a move, meaning the group has virtually no chance of bringing down the government or changing the policies it is complaining about.

Arab World

Israel Carries Out Strike on Beirut Suburbs, First Near Capital in Weeks

Lebanese army soldiers man a checkpoint in Beirut, Lebanon, 14 May 2026. Lebanese authorities announced that Internal Security Forces (ISF) and the Lebanese army have been mobilized as part of increased security measures to manage stability and protect displaced communities following a wave of internal displacement. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
Lebanese army soldiers man a checkpoint in Beirut, Lebanon, 14 May 2026. Lebanese authorities announced that Internal Security Forces (ISF) and the Lebanese army have been mobilized as part of increased security measures to manage stability and protect displaced communities following a wave of internal displacement. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
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Israel Carries Out Strike on Beirut Suburbs, First Near Capital in Weeks

Lebanese army soldiers man a checkpoint in Beirut, Lebanon, 14 May 2026. Lebanese authorities announced that Internal Security Forces (ISF) and the Lebanese army have been mobilized as part of increased security measures to manage stability and protect displaced communities following a wave of internal displacement. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
Lebanese army soldiers man a checkpoint in Beirut, Lebanon, 14 May 2026. Lebanese authorities announced that Internal Security Forces (ISF) and the Lebanese army have been mobilized as part of increased security measures to manage stability and protect displaced communities following a wave of internal displacement. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

An Israeli strike hit a building in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital on Thursday, the first strike to hit near Beirut in weeks amid a ceasefire that has failed to halt fighting between Israeli troops and Hezbollah in south Lebanon.

The Israeli military said it had conducted a precise strike in Beirut but did not offer additional details. Two Israeli security sources said the target was Ali al-Husseini, whom they described as head of the missile division within the Imam Hussein Division, a militia that Israeli officials say is aligned with Hezbollah and Iran.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah or Iran on the attack. A Lebanese security source said it was carried out with two precision missiles targeting a building in Beirut's southern suburbs.

The strike dealt another blow to a fraying ceasefire announced by Washington on April 16 that was meant to halt the war raging between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah since March 2.

Exchanges of fire between the two longtime foes have continued, but have been mostly concentrated in southern Lebanon. Apart from a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs in early May that killed a Hezbollah commander, the capital and its suburbs had been spared new bombardment during the truce.

ISRAEL PUT OFF BEIRUT STRIKES DUE TO US, OFFICIALS SAY

Israeli officials say the military had held off from striking in Beirut for three weeks due to requests from the administration of US President Donald Trump. Still, Israeli surveillance drones are heard flying over Beirut on a daily basis.

The two Israeli security sources said Thursday's strike came following a “very intense dialogue” with the Trump administration in recent days. Heavy Israeli strikes hit towns and villages in southern Lebanon overnight and into Thursday, after Israel declared a new swathe of the area "a combat zone".

The Israeli military said residents should leave any towns south of the Zahrani River, which runs about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Israel's border with Lebanon. Together with a border zone occupied by its troops, Israel's evacuation orders over the last three months span about 2,000 sq km of Lebanon – about a fifth of the entire country.

An Israeli strike on Thursday morning killed six people including two children and their parents near the southern town of Adloun, Lebanon's health ministry said. Another strike, on the port city of Sidon, killed five people including two women. Sidon lies outside of the area designated as a combat zone by the Israeli military, and the strike was carried out without warning. Taghrida Ramadan, a woman living in Sidon, told Reuters she had been sleeping at home when she was jolted awake by the strike, which hit a building across from hers.

"We looked around and found the rubble on us - stones from the strike, because it was nearby and directly facing us," Ramadan said. While her house was damaged, her relatives were not seriously injured. Another Israeli strike later on Thursday killed two Syrian nationals, including a child, in the city of Tyre, which falls within the zone Israel said must be emptied.