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Yemen Insurgents Accused of Raising Gas Cylinder's Prices

Cooking gas cylinders are lined up outside a gas station amid supply shortage in Sanaa, Yemen November 7, 2017. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah Reuters
Cooking gas cylinders are lined up outside a gas station amid supply shortage in Sanaa, Yemen November 7, 2017. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah Reuters
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Yemen Insurgents Accused of Raising Gas Cylinder's Prices

Cooking gas cylinders are lined up outside a gas station amid supply shortage in Sanaa, Yemen November 7, 2017. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah Reuters
Cooking gas cylinders are lined up outside a gas station amid supply shortage in Sanaa, Yemen November 7, 2017. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah Reuters

The price of a gas cylinder in Tihama and Azal districts in Yemen, under Houthi control, has reached about 8,000 Yemeni Riyal, given that its price and distribution cost in liberated areas within the legitimate government's control is around 950 Yemeni Riyal, according to a Yemeni legitimate government official.

Hodeidah chief district, Walid al-Qadimi, warned against Houthi militias profiting from billions of Riyals that result from the difference between the gas canister's price after militias forced companies and distributors to raise the prices.

Qadimi indicated that the difference between the canister's governmental price and the price in the market is about 7,000 Yemeni Riyal for a single gas cylinder.

He suggested imposing a unified price for the cylinder in addition to its distribution cost to reach Tihama and Azal regions. He added that in case the companies increased the prices, the government will have the right to stop supplying these companies with gas.

Qadimi told Asharq al-Awsat that any delay in measures to stop Houthis from stealing money will increase the burden on citizens. He added that militias are using this money in battles against the legitimate government to support their militias, buy more weapons, and recruit members.

Rights activist Abdul Hafiz al-Hutami stated that Houthi militias are punishing citizens in governorates under their control.

Houthi-affiliated black market merchants are selling oil and gas at very high prices. Gas' prices had multiplied 500 percent, even though it had reached government controlled Marib, according to Hutami.

Hutami pointed out that a gas canister is sold for 1,000 Yemeni Riyal, which amounts militias' profits to over 2 million Yemeni Riyal per month.

"Citizens are using plastic wastes and wood in Hodeidah, Ibb, Dhumar, Sanaa, Amran and Hajjah, while international organizations are silent before these humanitarian crimes in Yemen," said Hutami.

The activist also indicated that militias banned 40 oil tank trucks from reaching Ibb governorate and is preventing the gas company from selling at the price used in Marib.

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Human Rights Watch Says Israel's Deprivation of Water in Gaza is Act of Genocide

Displaced Palestinians line up to fill their containers with water in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on September 14, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas militant group. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
Displaced Palestinians line up to fill their containers with water in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on September 14, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas militant group. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
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Human Rights Watch Says Israel's Deprivation of Water in Gaza is Act of Genocide

Displaced Palestinians line up to fill their containers with water in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on September 14, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas militant group. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
Displaced Palestinians line up to fill their containers with water in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on September 14, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas militant group. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that Israel has killed thousands of Palestinians in Gaza by denying them clean water which it says legally amounts to acts of genocide and extermination.
"This policy, inflicted as part of a mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, means Israeli authorities have committed the crime against humanity of extermination, which is ongoing. This policy also amounts to an 'act of genocide' under the Genocide Convention of 1948," Human Rights Watch said in its report.
Israel has repeatedly rejected any accusation of genocide, saying it has respected international law and has a right to defend itself after the cross-border Hamas-led attack from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023 that precipitated the war, reported Reuters.
In a statement on X, Israel's foreign ministry wrote: "The truth is the complete opposite of HRW's lies."
"Since the beginning of the war, Israel has facilitated the continuous flow of water and humanitarian aid into Gaza, despite operating under constant attacks of Hamas terror organization," the statement said.
Although the report described the deprivation of water as an act of genocide, it noted that proving the crime of genocide against Israeli officials would also require establishing their intent. It cited statements by some senior Israeli officials which it said suggested they "wish to destroy Palestinians" which means the deprivation of water "may amount to the crime of genocide".
"What we have found is that the Israeli government is intentionally killing Palestinians in Gaza by denying them the water that they need to survive," Lama Fakih, Human Rights Watch Middle East director told a press conference.
In its response, Israel said it had ensured water infrastructure remained operational. It said international partners had sent water tankers through Israeli crossings, including last week, and ⁠Israel had facilitated the entry of more than 1.2 million tons of humanitarian supplies into Gaza.
Human Rights Watch is the second major rights group in a month to use the word genocide to describe the actions of Israel in Gaza, after Amnesty International issued a report that concluded Israel was committing genocide.
Both reports came just weeks after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. They deny the allegations.
The 184-page Human Rights Watch report said the Israeli government stopped water being piped into Gaza and cut off electricity and restricted fuel which meant Gaza's own water and sanitation facilities could not be used.
As a result, Palestinians in Gaza had access to only a few liters of water a day in many areas, far below the 15-liter-threshold for survival, the group said. Israel launched its air and ground war in Gaza after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities across the border 14 months ago, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, displaced most of the 2.3 million population and reduced much of the coastal enclave to ruins.