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Arab World

WHO-World Bank Partnership Prevents Collapse of More Than 100 Hospitals in Yemen

Only half of Yemen’s health facilities are fully functional and accessible due to the war that Houthi started (UN)
Only half of Yemen’s health facilities are fully functional and accessible due to the war that Houthi started (UN)
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WHO-World Bank Partnership Prevents Collapse of More Than 100 Hospitals in Yemen

Only half of Yemen’s health facilities are fully functional and accessible due to the war that Houthi started (UN)
Only half of Yemen’s health facilities are fully functional and accessible due to the war that Houthi started (UN)

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, in partnership with the Yemeni government, are working on an initiative to strengthen the resilience of hospitals to climate change.

Since the start of Yemen’s protracted crisis, this partnership has helped prevent the collapse of more than 100 hospitals where over 3.9 million people received health care, WHO said in a statement on its website.

The initiative focuses on developing hospitals that are safer, greener and more capable of responding to emergencies.

The Organization also plans to expand the pilot initiative to more hospitals, improving emergency preparedness, operational efficiency and health system resilience.

According to WHO, hospitals provide lifesaving medical care to people suffering from severe illness, injuries, complications from chronic diseases and other critical medical conditions.

In Yemen, it said, when people need health care, they often turn first to the nearest hospital.

Between November 2023 and June 2024, WHO said over 3.9 million people received health care at supported hospitals: 1.1 million people were treated in emergency rooms, 324,000 received inpatient care and 206,000 surgeries, 93,000 deliveries and 38,000 caesarean sections were performed.

WHO support in 2024 has included the procurement of $7 million of essential commodities, including insulin and other diabetic and cardiovascular medicines, intravenous fluids to treat infections, including cholera, and diagnostic laboratory kits.

The Organization also distributed 66,374 cylinders of oxygen to 37 facilities and 3.7 million liters of fuel to 143 facilities.

“These essential investments not only save lives but stabilize Yemen’s entire health infrastructure amidst the prolonged crisis, ensuring essential services reach those in need,” said WHO Representative to Yemen Dr. Arturo Pesigan when explaining the impact of WHO’s partnership with the World Bank.

“Without these resources, the system would be at risk of collapse,” he added.

In recent years, in accordance with the humanitarian-peace-development nexus approach, WHO has complemented its provision of lifesaving support with efforts to improve the quality of care in supported facilities and strategic action to guide future investments.

In addition to clinical and technical training, WHO has focused on often overlooked areas, including human resources, finance and hospital management, to ensure that facilities are equipped to effectively manage everyday health services and respond to emergencies.

WHO said it guided the development of Yemen’s first-ever hospital sector profile, and in 2024 initiated work on the country’s first hospital sector strategy with the goal of improving planning and implementation of people-centered hospitals, strengthening preparedness and emergency response and supporting the monitoring and evaluation of hospital sector performance.

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Arab World

Israel Targets Hezbollah-Linked Financial Interests

A man walks amid the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Beirut’s Zokak el-Blat district near the city center (Reuters)
A man walks amid the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Beirut’s Zokak el-Blat district near the city center (Reuters)
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Israel Targets Hezbollah-Linked Financial Interests

A man walks amid the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Beirut’s Zokak el-Blat district near the city center (Reuters)
A man walks amid the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Beirut’s Zokak el-Blat district near the city center (Reuters)

Israel has stepped up its operations against Hezbollah in recent days, escalating on multiple fronts in response to the group’s intensified attacks into Israeli territory and its use of precision and ballistic missiles that have reshaped the battlefield.

Tel Aviv has widened its targets to include civilian-linked interests tied to the group. After striking branches of Al-Qard Al-Hasan, a financial institution directly associated with Hezbollah, it launched a series of raids on gas stations operated by Al-Amana in several villages in southern Lebanon.

Israel says the company represents “a key economic infrastructure for Hezbollah, generating millions of dollars in profits,” adding that the stations’ accounts at Al-Qard Al-Hasan are used to finance its activities.

The Israeli military said in a statement that targeting the gas stations “deals a significant blow to Hezbollah’s military infrastructure in Lebanon and to the ability of its operatives to plan attacks.”

It added that the strikes are part of broader efforts to undermine “Hezbollah’s economic entrenchment within the civilian population.”

An escalating path

Ali al-Amin, editor-in-chief of Janoubia, said the targeting of civilian institutions linked to the group “reflects an escalating trajectory in Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah, after earlier strikes focused primarily on security and military targets.”

He said this falls within “Israel’s declared efforts to uproot and eliminate the party.”

Al-Amin told Asharq Al-Awsat that the gas station network is “one source of funding and a revenue-generating institution, but certainly not among the main sources.”

An economist, who declined to be named, said Hezbollah’s core funding has historically come from abroad, whether by land, sea, or air, as well as through financial transfers and intermediaries inside Lebanon and overseas.

He said that “with the fall of the regime in Syria, land routes for funds were cut, while US-Israeli maritime control reduced transfers by sea.”

“Funds were also transported by air through Iranian diplomatic missions and Iranian aircraft, whose access to Lebanon has been blocked,” he added.

The source said “institutions linked to the party are still operating, and there are attempts to circumvent circulars issued by Lebanon’s central bank and the Justice Ministry through various intermediaries,” noting that “some of the buildings currently targeted by Israel are used to store funds.”

Direct impact on Hezbollah’s base

Efforts to financially squeeze Hezbollah are directly affecting its support base, which Israel is seeking to pressure, according to Mona Fayad, a political writer and psychology professor at the Lebanese University in Beirut.

She said “Tel Aviv is exerting pressure on this environment through various means, betting on it to mobilize and speak out against Hezbollah.”

Fayad added that “the party’s failure to provide financial support and services to its fighters, their families and its broader base is pushing its leadership to try to turn them into a pressure tool against the state, leading to internal tensions and social unrest that Israel is seeking to fuel.”

Arab World

Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Meshaal Contacts Gaza Factions on Fate of Weapons

Fighters from Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades in Rafah, southern Gaza. (Reuters, file)
Fighters from Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades in Rafah, southern Gaza. (Reuters, file)
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Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Meshaal Contacts Gaza Factions on Fate of Weapons

Fighters from Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades in Rafah, southern Gaza. (Reuters, file)
Fighters from Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades in Rafah, southern Gaza. (Reuters, file)

Hamas is holding internal talks and consulting Palestinian factions on the fate of weapons in Gaza, an issue central to US President Donald Trump’s plan, which calls for full disarmament and links it to reconstruction.

Talks have slowed in recent weeks amid the US-Israeli war on Iran. Still, Hamas and faction sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas’ political bureau abroad and a contender to lead the movement, has contacted leaders in Gaza to discuss the weapons file.

A Hamas source said most contacts took place before the war on Iran, as part of ongoing coordination to forge a unified Palestinian position on “resistance weapons,” their future, and how to preserve core Palestinian principles.

A source from a Gaza faction involved in the consultations said leaders told Meshaal there are no longer “heavy weapons” as defined by Israel, including long or short-range rockets.

Remaining capabilities are limited, including small numbers of anti-armor rounds, improvised explosive devices, and light arms such as Kalashnikov rifles, as well as some DShK machine guns mounted on pickup trucks, which they said do not pose a threat.

The source said factions proposed handing over a limited number of pickup trucks fitted with DShK weapons, which Israel classifies as heavy arms. They also suggested exploring mechanisms with mediators to allow the “resistance” to retain light weapons under guarantees, with mediators overseeing the process in exchange for a long-term truce.

On tunnels, sources said most have been targeted and largely destroyed by Israeli forces, with only a few remaining that do not affect Israel.

Both sources said the ideas remain at the consultation stage, adding the weapons issue has not been formally raised by mediators, though informal contacts have taken place.

Israel insists on the surrender of all weapons. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said he wants Hamas to hand over 60,000 Kalashnikov rifles.

Palestinian sources said such numbers are not available in Gaza, calling the demand unrealistic after a two-year war that devastated the enclave.

Palestinian factions and mediators are awaiting a formal US proposal outlining its disarmament vision, but it has been delayed by the war on Iran. Limited recent contacts with mediators on humanitarian issues could revive discussions.

Leaders and field commanders in Gaza factions insist on discussing any approach to the weapons file and reject imposing terms on the “resistance.” A Hamas source said factions cannot easily give up their weapons after decades of sacrifices.

A Hamas delegation has been in Cairo for about a week discussing ways to ease Gaza’s dire humanitarian situation amid ongoing Israeli breaches, with expectations that mobilization could resume on issues related to a Gaza administrative committee and an international stabilization force.

Arab World

Lebanon’s Electricity Authority Says Israeli Attack Put a Main Substation in South Out of Service

Smoke rises from Khiam, a Lebanese village near the border with Israel, amid escalation between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from northern Israel, March 18, 2026. (Reuters)
Smoke rises from Khiam, a Lebanese village near the border with Israel, amid escalation between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from northern Israel, March 18, 2026. (Reuters)
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Lebanon’s Electricity Authority Says Israeli Attack Put a Main Substation in South Out of Service

Smoke rises from Khiam, a Lebanese village near the border with Israel, amid escalation between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from northern Israel, March 18, 2026. (Reuters)
Smoke rises from Khiam, a Lebanese village near the border with Israel, amid escalation between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from northern Israel, March 18, 2026. (Reuters)

The Lebanese state electricity company said on Thursday that Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon earlier that day ‌had put ‌a main ‌power ⁠substation out of service, ⁠a sign of expanding Israeli attacks on Lebanese infrastructure.

In a ⁠statement carried ‌by ‌Lebanon’s state ‌media, the electricity ‌authority said the attack damaged various parts of the ‌station in Bint Jbeil, impacting ⁠power ⁠provision in the city and surrounding towns.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.