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Houthis Sentence 19 to Death for Fighting for Yemen’s Legitimate Govt

People ride a vehicle driving past a digital billboard featuring Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi in Sanaa, Yemen, 14 May 2026. (EPA)
People ride a vehicle driving past a digital billboard featuring Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi in Sanaa, Yemen, 14 May 2026. (EPA)
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Houthis Sentence 19 to Death for Fighting for Yemen’s Legitimate Govt

People ride a vehicle driving past a digital billboard featuring Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi in Sanaa, Yemen, 14 May 2026. (EPA)
People ride a vehicle driving past a digital billboard featuring Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi in Sanaa, Yemen, 14 May 2026. (EPA)

A Houthi-controlled court in Yemen has sentenced 19 people to death after their conviction for fighting for the legitimate government.

Sunday's verdict, which can be appealed, came a few days after the Houthis and the government agreed on the largest prisoner swap in the conflict there, in which 1,600 detainees from both sides will be released.

The Specialized Criminal Court in the Houthi-held capital, Sanaa, handed down the verdict, according to the Houthi-run Justice Ministry. Four other people received prison terms ranging between two and 10 years, the ministry said in a statement.

The defendants were convinced of establishing an armed group that provided support to the legitimate government between 2015 and 2023, the ministry said. They carried out attacks against Houthi-manned checkpoints and security facilities in the southern province of Dhale, it said.

The charges against five others were dropped after their deaths, the ministry said without explaining the circumstances.

The verdict was the latest in a yearslong crackdown by the Houthis in areas under their control. The militants have imprisoned thousands of people including United Nations staffers, resisting repeated calls for their release.

Courts in Houthi-controlled areas previously handed harsh sentences to those accused of collaborating with the government, in trials criticized by rights groups as unfair. In November, a Sanaa court convicted 17 people of spying for foreign governments and sentenced them to death.

In September 2021, the militants executed nine people who were convicted of involvement in the killing of a senior Houthi official, Saleh al-Samad, in an airstrike by the Arab coalition in April 2018.

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Arab World

Syria Arrests Assad-era Officer who Fled Austria after Conviction

A man walks past heavily-damaged and destroyed buildings in the Jobar suburb northeast of Damascus on August 12, 2026. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
A man walks past heavily-damaged and destroyed buildings in the Jobar suburb northeast of Damascus on August 12, 2026. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
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Syria Arrests Assad-era Officer who Fled Austria after Conviction

A man walks past heavily-damaged and destroyed buildings in the Jobar suburb northeast of Damascus on August 12, 2026. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
A man walks past heavily-damaged and destroyed buildings in the Jobar suburb northeast of Damascus on August 12, 2026. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)

Syrian security forces have arrested a former Assad-era security officer who fled Austria after being sentenced to eight years in prison for abusing detainees and returned to his hometown in southern Syria, state news agency SANA said on Tuesday night.

Lieutenant Colonel Musab Abu Rukba was arrested in the city of Nawa in Daraa province by internal security forces in coordination ⁠with the counter-terrorism ⁠department, SANA said, citing the security forces.

Abu Rukba had been convicted by a Vienna court last month of bodily harm, aggravated coercion and sexual assault against detained opponents of former President Bashar al-Assad while he headed the police’s criminal investigations department in the northern city of Raqqa more than a ⁠decade ago.

He had pleaded not guilty.

Reuters reported on Friday that Abu Rukba had left Austria while challenging his eight-year sentence on appeal and arrived in Nawa in early August, where his family held a reception to celebrate his return.

SANA said on Tuesday that Abu Rukba had entered Syria illegally after fleeing Austria and that authorities had tracked him down in Nawa. He had been referred to the relevant authorities to complete legal procedures ahead of prosecution, it said.

It was ⁠not immediately ⁠clear what charges Abu Rukba could face in Syria or whether Austria had requested his arrest or extradition.

A spokesperson for the Austrian court that convicted him told Reuters at the time that Abu Rukba had not been considered a flight risk before his trial because he had lived in Austria since 2014 and was seeking asylum there with his family.

He was not held in custody during the trial or subjected to other restrictions, and his departure from Austria did not breach Austrian laws or court orders while the appeals process remained underway, the spokesperson said.

Arab World

Israel Says It Recovered Remains of Soldier Killed in Lebanon in 1982

Destruction is pictured in the village of Arnoun as seen from nearby Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon on August 11, 2026. (AFP)
Destruction is pictured in the village of Arnoun as seen from nearby Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon on August 11, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Says It Recovered Remains of Soldier Killed in Lebanon in 1982

Destruction is pictured in the village of Arnoun as seen from nearby Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon on August 11, 2026. (AFP)
Destruction is pictured in the village of Arnoun as seen from nearby Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon on August 11, 2026. (AFP)

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had repatriated the remains of Sgt First Class Yehuda Katz, a soldier killed in Lebanon 44 years ago, in a joint operation with the Mossad intelligence agency.

Katz was the last Israeli soldier declared missing in the Sultan Yacoub battle against Syrian forces in eastern Lebanon in 1982.

"His return to Israel was made possible through efforts based on accurate intelligence... that lasted more than four decades," the military said in a statement.

It is not clear where his body was found.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended the security forces and said that "for many years, I approved numerous clandestine operations to locate the missing soldiers of Sultan Yacoub. I promised their families that we would never stop working to bring them home."

In a separate statement, President Isaac Herzog said that "the circle that remained an open and bleeding wound from the Battle of Sultan Yacoub is finally closed," and that he had kept a photograph of Yehuda Katz hanging in his office as "a daily reminder of our sacred duty to bring our sons home and leave no one behind".

Katz's remains were brought to Israel and identified at an institute for the identification of fallen soldiers under the military rabbinate, the military said.

Three Israeli soldiers had been missing for decades after the Sultan Yacoub battle. In 2019, the military announced the repatriation of the remains of Sgt First Class Zachariah Baumel, while in May 2025 it said it had recovered the body of Sgt First Class Tzvika Feldman "in the heart of Syria".

Arab World

Lebanon Mulls Removing Restrictions Against 600,000 Syrians

Lebanese soldiers are seen at the Masnaa border crossing with Syria in wake of the collapse of the Syrian regime. (AP file)
Lebanese soldiers are seen at the Masnaa border crossing with Syria in wake of the collapse of the Syrian regime. (AP file)
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Lebanon Mulls Removing Restrictions Against 600,000 Syrians

Lebanese soldiers are seen at the Masnaa border crossing with Syria in wake of the collapse of the Syrian regime. (AP file)
Lebanese soldiers are seen at the Masnaa border crossing with Syria in wake of the collapse of the Syrian regime. (AP file)

Lebanese authorities began reviewing security restrictions against some 600,000 Syrians in the latest move that reflects Beirut’s desire to open a new chapter in relations with Damascus based on clear security and legal foundations.

The restrictions are among the thorniest issues in Lebanon and that emerged during the wave of Syrian displacement sparked by the civil war. The restrictions led to hundreds of thousands of Syrians being barred entry to Lebanon.

Addressing the issue would pave the way for Lebanese-Syrian relations that are based on security coordination and respect for the law.

Asharq Al-Awsat learned that Lebanon’s General Directorate of the General Security has kicked off the legal procedures to lift security restrictions against over 600,000 Syrians that barred their entry to Lebanon for years.

A prominent security source revealed that General Security chief Hassan Choucair has formed a committee that will study the file of Syrians who have security warrants against them that have prevented them from entering Lebanon.

The warrants are tied to residency or entry violations.

The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that authorities are now examining the file of every Syrian who has been barred entry to Lebanon over residency violations, such as entering Lebanon illegally or violating residency rules or exceeding the duration of their stay.

The source said the committee has already completed tens of thousands of files.

The General Security will issue a statement upon completion of the procedures. It will inform the Syrian authorities of its results.

The move is not limited to building trust between Beirut and Damascus, but it also aims to crack down on people smuggling across the Lebanese-Syrian border.

The latest procedures will allow Syrians to enter Lebanon with their identification papers or through travel agencies as long as they meet the necessary requirements.

Syrians wishing to work in Lebanon must obtain work and legal residency permits from the General Security.

“Lebanon welcomes anyone who wants to reside on its territory as long as they are doing so legally,” said the source.

“Syria is a sisterly country and organizing the movement of people in and out of both countries benefits them both,” he added.