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Yemeni National Army Seizes Khawkhah, Militias Recruit Reinforcements in Sana’a

A Houthi militiaman at a checkpoint in Sanaa (Reuters)
A Houthi militiaman at a checkpoint in Sanaa (Reuters)
    Riyadh, Sanaa - Abdulhadi Habtour, Asharq Al-Awsat
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Yemeni National Army Seizes Khawkhah, Militias Recruit Reinforcements in Sana’a

A Houthi militiaman at a checkpoint in Sanaa (Reuters)
A Houthi militiaman at a checkpoint in Sanaa (Reuters)

Yemeni government forces have confirmed the seizure of Al Khawkhah, in Hodeida, and regaining the control over Abu Musa Ashaari camp, following conflicts with Houthis.

The Yemeni National Army, supported by the Saudi-led Coalition, achieved a strategic victory in the western coastal front in its launched operation to restore Hodeida and its port from insurgent Houthis -- the operation falls under the legit government comprehensive battle to liberate Yemen from the Iran-allied groups.

Official Yemeni military spokesman Abdo Majali stated to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the legit forces, backed with the Saudi-led Coalition air-cover, accomplished decisive and significant victories in liberating Khawkhah, after al-Jahili, al-Ruwais and Moushej during the past days.

The seizure of Khawkhah, which entails Abu Musa Ashaari camp that can assimilate more than 40,000 fighters, paves the safe road towards Hodeida, according to military sources.

“The Yemeni National Army is rapidly advancing after fringing the Iranian militias that fled due to the army strikes and the coalition airstrikes on Hays and al-Jarahi. The operation will continue until fully liberating Hodeida and its strategic port,” declared Majali.

Yemeni news agency SABA reported that Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi carried out a phone call with Commander of Khawkhah Ahmed al-Kawkabani to be briefed on the updates and general condition in the battle field. Yemeni President commended efforts of soldiers and officers who are conducting a battle of dignity, backed by the Saudi-led Coalition.

In the same context, official in Houthis militia Radwan Salah along with four of his companions were reported killed, according to army sources in Taiz.

The legit government and pro-forces seek to expand the scope of military operations against Houthis, exploiting the rage against the militia after it turned against its ally former president Ali Saleh and executed him with dozens of officials from his party and from the Yemeni Republican Guard.

Eye witnesses reported that Houthis moved on with their military reinforcements in Sana’a, due to concerns from the rage following the death of Saleh along with other executions. For that, Prime Minister Ahmed Obaid bin Dagher urged governors of liberated provinces to receive displaced leaders and members of General People's Congress (GPC) who are part of the national revolution against the Houthis.

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Arab World

UN Force Says HQ Struck in South Lebanon

United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a destroyed healthcare centre building in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Burj Qalawiya on March 14, 2026. Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)
United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a destroyed healthcare centre building in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Burj Qalawiya on March 14, 2026. Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)
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UN Force Says HQ Struck in South Lebanon

United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a destroyed healthcare centre building in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Burj Qalawiya on March 14, 2026. Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)
United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a destroyed healthcare centre building in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Burj Qalawiya on March 14, 2026. Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)

The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) announced Monday that its headquarters in Naqura had been hit by a projectile, probably launched by a "non-state actor", after Hezbollah declared it had targeted Israeli forces in the same town.

Since Saturday, the coastal town in Lebanon's far south on the border with Israel, has been one of the flashpoints between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, AFP reported.

"Just before noon today, a projectile hit a building inside our headquarters," UNIFIL said in a statement.

"Peacekeepers with expertise in explosive ordinance disposal are working to deal with it. We believe it was fired by a non-state actor."

UNIFIL's statement came after Hezbollah claimed at least two attacks on Monday against Israeli forces in Naqura.

The first, at 11:00 am (0900GMT), targeted "a gathering of Israeli enemy soldiers in the vicinity of the Naqura municipality building". and the second, at 1:00 pm, targeted a similar gathering "near the Naqura school".

After a November 2024 ceasefire to end a previous war with Hezbollah, Israel kept forces in five positions, including the village of Labbouneh, just three kilometres away from Naqura.

On Saturday, Hezbollah said its members had targeted Israeli soldiers along the border, including in Naqura.

In its Monday statement, UNIFIL said it had observed over the past 48 hours "intense gunfire and explosions" in and around Naqura, close to its headquarters.

"Bullets, fragments, and shrapnel have hit buildings and open areas inside our headquarters, putting peacekeepers at risk."

The force reminded "all actors of their responsibility to ensure the safety and security of peacekeepers".

"We reiterate that there is no military solution to this conflict and urge the actors to put down their weapons and commit to working toward a long-term solution, before more people get hurt."

Arab World

Lebanon Says One Killed Near Beirut, as Israel Says Struck Iran Guards Member

A Middle East Airlines plane takes off from Rafik Hariri International Airport as smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A Middle East Airlines plane takes off from Rafik Hariri International Airport as smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Lebanon Says One Killed Near Beirut, as Israel Says Struck Iran Guards Member

A Middle East Airlines plane takes off from Rafik Hariri International Airport as smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A Middle East Airlines plane takes off from Rafik Hariri International Airport as smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

An Israeli strike on Hazmieh east of Beirut killed at least one person, Lebanon's health ministry said, the second strike on the residential Christian area in the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah war, according to AFP.

The Israeli military said around the same time that it had "struck an IRGC Quds Force terrorist in Beirut", referring to the foreign operations arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

Hazmieh, which is near Lebanon's presidential palace, hosts several foreign embassies.

Arab World

Israeli Minister Calls for Annexation of Southern Lebanon

Israeli soldiers stand next to tanks near the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, March 23, 2026. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
Israeli soldiers stand next to tanks near the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, March 23, 2026. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
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Israeli Minister Calls for Annexation of Southern Lebanon

Israeli soldiers stand next to tanks near the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, March 23, 2026. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
Israeli soldiers stand next to tanks near the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, March 23, 2026. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

Israel should extend its border with Lebanon up to the Litani River deep inside the country's south, Israel's finance minister said on Monday as Israeli troops bombed bridges and destroyed homes in the area in an escalating military assault.

The comments by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich were the most explicit yet by a senior Israeli official on seizing Lebanese territory in a fight Israel says targets Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.

Lebanon was pulled into the regional war on March 2 when Hezbollah fired missiles into Israel. Since then, Israel has ordered all residents to leave the area south of the Litani River as it pummels the area with air strikes, viewing it as a Hezbollah stronghold.

Lebanese authorities say the Israeli air and ground assault has killed more than 1,000 people, and more than a million have been driven from their homes with Israel having ordered residents to flee swathes of the country.

'THE NEW ISRAELI BORDER MUST BE THE LITANI'

Smotrich told an Israeli radio program that the military campaign in Lebanon "needs to end with a different reality entirely, both with the Hezbollah decision but also with the change of Israel's borders."

"I say here definitively...in every room and in every discussion, too: the new Israeli border must be the Litani," Smotrich said.

Smotrich, leader of a small far-right party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet, often makes comments that go beyond official Israeli policy.

Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the remarks. Defenسe Minister Israel Katz hinted earlier this month at plans to capture land, saying Lebanon could face "loss of territory" if it did not disarm Hezbollah.

Smotrich's remarks were deeply resonant in Lebanon, which is trying to emerge from a decades-old cycle of invasions and occupations by its neighbor. Israeli forces have launched repeated assaults on Lebanon since 1978 and occupied the south from 1982-2000.

A Lebanese official told Reuters that Beirut was still counting on foreign powers to put enough pressure on Israel to put an end to the war, through an offer from President Joseph Aoun to hold direct talks.

Smotrich also called for Israel to annex territory it now controls in the Gaza Strip, up to an armistice line with Hamas. A ceasefire signed in October left Israel in control of 53% of Gaza, where it has ordered residents out and bulldozed buildings.

The Israeli military says its troops in Lebanon are carrying out ground maneuvers and targeted raids on Hezbollah militants and weapons stores, aimed at protecting residents in northern Israel from Hezbollah fire.

The Lebanese government has outlawed Hezbollah military activity and said it wants to engage in direct talks with Israel.

ROUTES TO NORTH BEING CUT OFF

Over the weekend, Israel struck a main bridge linking south Lebanon with the rest of the country after ordering its military to destroy all crossings over the Litani River and to step up the demolition of homes near the southern border.

International law generally prohibits militaries from attacking civilian infrastructure, and the United Nations human rights chief has criticized Israel's actions in Lebanon, particularly its use of widespread evacuation orders.

Israeli strikes hit two more crossings on the Litani River on Monday -- a road running near a main bridge hit on Sunday and another small bridge on another section of the river.

Hanna Amil, the mayor of Christian border town Rmeish whose residents have refused to leave their homes, told Reuters that it was getting increasingly difficult to move around.

"Once or twice a week, a convoy from the Lebanese army accompanies us as we try to get basic goods from nearby areas," he said.

"Already, we have no state electricity, no water and we have diesel shortages. If all the routes to the north get cut off, who knows what the future could hold for us," Amil said.