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US Says Rubio Held Call with Yemeni PM to Discuss Houthi Attacks

A protester carries a mock rocket during a pro-Palestinian rally in Sanaa, Yemen, 22 January 2025. (EPA)
A protester carries a mock rocket during a pro-Palestinian rally in Sanaa, Yemen, 22 January 2025. (EPA)
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US Says Rubio Held Call with Yemeni PM to Discuss Houthi Attacks

A protester carries a mock rocket during a pro-Palestinian rally in Sanaa, Yemen, 22 January 2025. (EPA)
A protester carries a mock rocket during a pro-Palestinian rally in Sanaa, Yemen, 22 January 2025. (EPA)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed bin Mubarak on Friday and discussed cooperation to stop attacks by the Houthi militias in the region and eliminate their capabilities, the State Department said.

They discussed the importance of ending the Houthi threat to the Red Sea maritime security and surrounding waterways.

They also shared concerns regarding unlawful Houthi detentions of diplomatic, UN, and NGO staff, including current and former Yemeni staff of the US Mission to Yemen, as well as the most recent detentions of additional UN staff.

Rubio highlighted President Donald Trump’s Executive Order re-designating the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization as a critical step toward curbing the group.

He added that he looks forward to continuing to support the Yemeni government in confronting the Iran-backed Houthis.

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Israeli Ex-General Says War Did Not End Well for His Country

People walk along Gaza's coastal al-Rashid Street to cross the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip into the north on January 27, 2025. (AFP)
People walk along Gaza's coastal al-Rashid Street to cross the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip into the north on January 27, 2025. (AFP)
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Israeli Ex-General Says War Did Not End Well for His Country

People walk along Gaza's coastal al-Rashid Street to cross the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip into the north on January 27, 2025. (AFP)
People walk along Gaza's coastal al-Rashid Street to cross the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip into the north on January 27, 2025. (AFP)

A former Israeli general who had proposed a surrender-or-starve strategy for northern Gaza says “the war has ended very badly” for Israel.

Giora Eiland spoke to Israeli Army Radio on Monday as tens of thousands of Palestinians returned to the heavily destroyed north in accordance with a ceasefire reached with Hamas.

Eiland said that by opening the Netzarim corridor, an Israeli military zone bisecting the territory, Israel had lost leverage over Hamas and would not be able to restore it, even if it resumes the war. “We are at the mercy of Hamas,” he said.

Eiland was the main author of the so-called Generals’ Plan, which called for giving civilians in the northern third of Gaza a week to evacuate. The whole area would then be declared a closed military zone, sealed off from humanitarian aid, and anyone remaining would be considered a combatant.

Last fall, the plan was presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which has not said whether it adopted parts of it. The Israeli military has denied carrying out the plan.

Around the time it was publicized, in October, Israel launched a major operation in northern Gaza and sealed it off, allowing in hardly any aid. Tens of thousands of people were forced out, and the operation caused heavy destruction.

Eiland said Israel had failed to achieve its stated goals, including destroying Hamas, removing it from power, restoring a sense of safety to Israeli border communities or safely returning dozens of hostages abducted in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war.

He said that Hamas, by contrast, “has largely achieved everything it wanted.”