US Names Career Diplomat for Gaza Ceasefire Monitor
Buildings destroyed during the Israeli air and ground offensive are seen in the Al-Shati camp, in Gaza City, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. (AP)
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US Names Career Diplomat for Gaza Ceasefire Monitor
Buildings destroyed during the Israeli air and ground offensive are seen in the Al-Shati camp, in Gaza City, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. (AP)
The United States named a veteran diplomat on Friday as the civilian lead in a body monitoring the Gaza ceasefire, seeking to push forward a durable end to the war.
The State Department said that Steve Fagin, a career diplomat, will work alongside US Army Lieutenant General Patrick Frank, the military head already appointed to the hub set up after the October 10 ceasefire.
The Civil-Military Coordination Center was set up in southern Israel on October 17 to observe the ceasefire for any violations and handle logistics including aid delivery into war-ravaged Gaza.
Some 200 US troops were sent to the center, set up in a rented warehouse, where they work with soldiers from Israel and European countries, representatives of the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, and personnel from the United Nations and aid groups.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the site, which is a short drive from Gaza, on Friday and called it a "historic" undertaking.
"There's going to be ups and downs and twists and turns, but I think we have a lot of reason for healthy optimism about the progress that's being made," Rubio said.
Fagin has long experience in the Middle East.
He has served since 2022 as ambassador to Yemen, managing relations at a turbulent time as the United States bombed Houthi militants that have lobbed missiles at Israel in alleged solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
And it is just the latest time Fagin has taken a major concurrent position.
He served for three months until recently as the top US diplomat in Baghdad while remaining ambassador to Yemen, a job in which he has been based primarily in Saudi Arabia.
Lebanon Says 6 Wounded in Attack That Israel Says Targeted Pro-Iran Syrian Operativehttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5327863-lebanon-says-6-wounded-attack-israel-says-targeted-pro-iran-syrian-operative
An Israeli army vehicle operates in East Zawtar, as seen from West Zawtar, southern Lebanon, October 1, 2026. (Reuters)
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Lebanon Says 6 Wounded in Attack That Israel Says Targeted Pro-Iran Syrian Operative
An Israeli army vehicle operates in East Zawtar, as seen from West Zawtar, southern Lebanon, October 1, 2026. (Reuters)
Lebanon said an Israeli attack on Friday wounded six people as Israel said it targeted a "Syrian terrorist" who planned anti-Israel attacks under Iranian instructions.
"The Israeli attack near the town of Hawsh al-Sayyed Ali in the Hermel district led to six wounded, including five Syrian nationals, two of them women, and one Lebanese," Lebanon's health ministry said.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that "an enemy military drone targeted a car" in the town, located close to the Syrian border, an area largely been spared such attacks since an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire was agreed in June.
Israel's military said that it "struck a Syrian terrorist", identified as Yusuf Ali al-Hassoun, who it said "operated under the direction of the Iranian regime and advanced terrorist attacks targeting Israeli civilians and Israeli soldiers operating in southern Syria".
It did not say whether the suspect was operating as part of a particular militant group.
Hassoun allegedly "planned and advanced attacks" against soldiers "that were thwarted, including the launching of explosive drones and rockets toward Israeli soldiers in southern Syria".
The Israeli military "will continue to operate to eliminate immediate threats on all fronts", it said.
Since the December 2024 ouster of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria and sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that had separated Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan since 1974.
It has also carried out repeated incursions deeper into Syrian territory, sometimes seizing residents, and has vowed to keep troops in a so-called "security zone" in southern Syria, where it seeks a broader demilitarized area.
On Monday, the Israeli military said it had killed an assailant at an army outpost in the area it occupies in southern Syria.
Syria's former ruler Assad was an ally of Iran and Tehran-backed armed group Hezbollah, which drew Lebanon into the Middle East war this year by attacking Israel.
Houthi Escalation Strains Health Services, Deepens Displacementhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5327808-houthi-escalation-strains-health-services-deepens-displacement
A displaced Yemeni family enters a makeshift shelter at the Al-Kod Al-Othmani displacement camp in Sheikh Othman district, Aden, Yemen, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
Houthi Escalation Strains Health Services, Deepens Displacement
A displaced Yemeni family enters a makeshift shelter at the Al-Kod Al-Othmani displacement camp in Sheikh Othman district, Aden, Yemen, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis is worsening as the Houthi escalation spreads, leaving more than 5,000 people dead or wounded since August, displacing about 200,000 and fueling a rise in suspected cholera and measles cases.
The United Nations is warning of gaps in care and the risk of outbreaks as health services struggle to reach the wounded and deliver emergency treatment, especially in conflict zones and displacement camps.
UN Health Cluster data show 5,166 casualties since Aug. 6, including 959 deaths. In six days alone, 685 new casualties were recorded, a daily average of 114, up from about 101 in the preceding period, signaling a continued rise in the conflict’s human toll.
Children pose for a photo in a makeshift camp for people displaced by clashes near Aden, Yemen October 7, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Taiz governorate in southwestern Yemen has become one of the deadliest fronts, with average daily casualties jumping from eight to 109 in a week as fighting moved into Taiz city. Preliminary reports also indicated casualties in Hadramout and Al-Jawf, while violence and casualties remain high in Lahj and Marib.
Displacement is adding to the strain on host communities, while shortages of trauma stabilization points and medical supplies hamper efforts to reach the wounded and meet mounting health needs.
For medical teams near the front lines, reaching the injured quickly is a critical challenge. Too few trauma stabilization points near the fighting mean precious time is lost during the “golden hour,” when urgent medical intervention can improve a wounded person’s chances of survival.
Difficulties in providing medical services on the front lines with the Houthis (local media)
First-level trauma stabilization points remain a major gap in the health response. Six of the 20 planned points still lack partner support, limiting the health system’s ability to stabilize patients and get them to operating rooms within an hour of injury.
Communications outages and security risks are also hampering efforts to track humanitarian conditions. Aid workers believe the available figures understate the actual toll, while continued fighting makes reports of attacks on health facilities difficult to verify.
Displacement camps in Yemen lack basic necessities (local media)
Displacement and outbreaks
The fallout from the Houthi escalation extends beyond the dead and wounded. About 200,000 people have been displaced, including 29,519 families across 10 governorates, with displacement rising 8% in just five days.
Lahj accounted for about two-thirds of the latest increase, underscoring the pressure on residents and host communities as fighting drives up demand for shelter, basic services and health care.
Displacement has spread further into eastern governorates, including Hadramout, Al-Mahra and Shabwa. The consolidated report lists 454 displaced families in those governorates, up from 201 on Sept. 23.
In Hadramout, the Mukalla center reported another 429 families in Al-Abr, in Wadi Hadramout, who have yet to be included in the consolidated report, suggesting the actual displacement figures are higher.
Civilians pay the price for Houthi escalation in several governorates (local media)
More than 3,600 people have also crossed into Djibouti, according to the data, extending the conflict’s humanitarian repercussions beyond Yemen.
Growing displacement and deteriorating living and health conditions are heightening fears of outbreaks as cholera and measles cases rise, immunization gaps widen and displaced children show alarming levels of acute malnutrition.
Surveillance data show suspected cholera cases nearly tripled in three weeks, reaching 647 in week 39, up from 217 in week 36.
Measles is spreading alongside cholera as displacement and overcrowding in areas hosting affected families widen immunity gaps, increasing health risks for children, especially those suffering from malnutrition.
People fleeing Houthi escalation in Taiz governorate (local media)
Malnutrition
Screenings by International Medical Corps mobile medical teams have found high levels of acute malnutrition among displaced children, offering another measure of deteriorating health and living conditions.
Of 54 displaced children under five screened, nine had severe acute malnutrition and 29 had moderate acute malnutrition, highlighting urgent nutritional and treatment needs among the most vulnerable.
At least five health facilities have run out of ready-to-use therapeutic food, and three have exhausted their stocks of supplementary food, threatening their ability to treat children most at risk of complications.
Yemen's Houthis Mobilize Blood Banks as Casualties Mounthttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5327791-yemens-houthis-mobilize-blood-banks-casualties-mount
Yemen's Houthis Mobilize Blood Banks as Casualties Mount
Houthis mobilize blood donations for hospitals packed with their wounded fighters (X)
The Houthi group has sent blood donation vehicles into streets, neighborhoods and squares across Sanaa and four Yemeni provinces over the past two days, urgently appealing for donors amid signs of rising numbers of wounded fighters following recent military developments.
Vehicles and trucks belonging to the so-called “National Blood Transfusion and Research Center” were deployed across the seized Yemeni capital and the provinces of Dhamar, Ibb, Al-Mahwit and Hodeidah in an intensive drive to mobilize residents to donate blood.
The vehicles toured densely populated areas, broadcasting appeals through loudspeakers.
Local sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group had ordered medical workers, neighborhood officials and community leaders in the targeted provinces to mobilize residents and direct them to donation centers as fighting spread across several fronts.
The sources said Houthi-controlled health facilities were on high alert, with demand rising for various blood types. Hospitals were receiving growing numbers of wounded Houthi fighters, according to local accounts.
The Houthi-controlled National Blood Transfusion and Research Center in Sanaa (Facebook)
Residents in Sanaa and elsewhere described the heavy deployment of donation vehicles over the past two days as striking, citing repeated loudspeaker appeals urging people to visit donation points.
They linked the campaigns to recent battlefield developments and questioned the scale of injuries behind the group’s decision to expand the drive to more areas.
High alert, mounting losses
“Houthi appeals this time are more urgent than in previous campaigns,” said Qassem, a Sanaa resident.
“No one refuses to donate blood to save a human life, but the question is: Why do they keep sending people to the front lines, then ask residents to provide blood to treat the consequences of those battles?”
In Ibb, 193 kilometers south of Sanaa, resident Majdi said the intensified appeals “do not come out of nowhere.” The group was using various methods to mobilize residents, he said, without disclosing the scale of losses driving the surge in demand for blood.
“People are struggling with poverty, rising prices and deteriorating services, and now they are also being asked to bear the consequences of war and provide blood for the wounded,” he said.
In Dhamar, 100 kilometers south of Sanaa, sources and residents reported that blood donation vehicles from the center’s local branch were operating in several city neighborhoods, alongside urgent appeals for donors.
They said growing numbers of wounded Houthi fighters continued to arrive at hospitals, particularly Dhamar General Hospital, putting further pressure on health facilities.
In Al-Mahwit and Hodeidah in the west, local sources said turnout was initially very low. The group then expanded the campaigns to government institutions and private establishments, urging employees and workers to donate.
Houthi vehicles used loudspeakers to urge residents to donate blood (Facebook)
The sources described the campaigns as part of a wider state of high alert. Their timing, alongside military developments, reinforced residents’ belief that large numbers of wounded fighters urgently needed blood.
Residents in Houthi-controlled areas, meanwhile, face deteriorating health services and shortages of medicines and medical supplies.
They are calling for treatment services that meet civilians’ needs, rather than further burdens on facilities already stretched by limited resources.
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