Near-Sanaa Tribes Arrange Forces to Enter Capital

Houthi rebels patrol an area in Saada in northern Yemen. Reuters
Houthi rebels patrol an area in Saada in northern Yemen. Reuters
TT

Near-Sanaa Tribes Arrange Forces to Enter Capital

Houthi rebels patrol an area in Saada in northern Yemen. Reuters
Houthi rebels patrol an area in Saada in northern Yemen. Reuters

Tribal sources in areas surrounding Sanaa revealed that accelerated movements are taking place on the ground, in coordination with many tribes in Tihama and some sheikhs in Sanaa who are loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, to arrange a mechanism to progress militarily and storm Sanaa with the support of the national army.

“These movements come in light with the repression and killings carried out by the Houthi militias in Sanaa after the city was divided into security squares to monitor any movement of civilians and prevent any revolution after the assassination of President Saleh,” several sheikhs told Asharq Al-Awsat.

They added that work was underway to arrange the ranks before the occurrence of any military action that needs the support of coalition forces.

A number of sheikhs in Sanaa joined the Houthi militias under the force of arms to ensure their safety and prevent the execution of their families after militias launched a large-scale campaign of arrests, killing large numbers of leaders and destroying their homes for refusing to cooperate and obey, tribal sheikhs explained to Asharq Al-Awsat.

This move was preceded by the calls of leaders in the legitimate government, who rely on the strong reaction of these tribes in expelling of the Houthi militias with the support of the army and the Arab coalition forces, especially that these tribes have a historical experience in clearing invaders from the city.

According to tribal sheikhs, they need military support as they need to be provided with various types of weapons, enabling them to quickly enter the center of the capital.

Sheikh Mohammad Abdulaziz al-Shalif, a sheikh of the Nahm tribe, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the bloody situation in the capital, Sana'a, is caused by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias and has created panic among people inside the city.

The women, who have been subjected to investigation and arrest, especially after the protests they have carried out on Wednesday, were subjected to repression, beatings, and humiliation.

Many homes were also bombed. "The situation is now critical in Sana'a and the capital has never witnessed such situation,” Shalif stressed.



With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
TT

With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)

After weeks of Israeli bombardment left them with nowhere else to go, hundreds of Palestinians have ended up in a former Gaza prison built to hold murderers and thieves.

Yasmeen al-Dardasi said she and her family passed wounded people they were unable to help as they evacuated from a district in the southern city of Khan Younis towards its Central Correction and Rehabilitation Facility.

They spent a day under a tree before moving on to the former prison, where they now live in a prayer room. It offers protection from the blistering sun, but not much else.

Dardasi's husband has a damaged kidney and just one lung, but no mattress or blanket.

"We are not settled here either," said Dardasi, who like many Palestinians fears she will be uprooted once again.

Israel has said it goes out of its way to protect civilians in its war with the Palestinian group Hamas, which runs Gaza and led the attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that sparked the latest conflict.

Palestinians, many of whom have been displaced several times, say nowhere is free of Israeli bombardment, which has reduced much of Gaza to rubble.

An Israeli air strike killed at least 90 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in the Al-Mawasi area on July 13, the territory's health ministry said, in an attack that Israel said targeted Hamas' elusive military chief Mohammed Deif.

On Thursday, Gaza's health ministry said Israeli military strikes on areas in eastern Khan Younis had killed 14 people.

Entire neighborhoods have been flattened in one of the most densely populated places in the world, where poverty and unemployment have long been widespread.

According to the United Nations, nine in ten people across Gaza are now internally displaced.

Israeli soldiers told Saria Abu Mustafa and her family that they should flee for safety as tanks were on their way, she said. The family had no time to change so they left in their prayer clothes.

After sleeping outside on sandy ground, they too found refuge in the prison, among piles of rubble and gaping holes in buildings from the battles which were fought there. Inmates had been released long before Israel attacked.

"We didn't take anything with us. We came here on foot, with children walking with us," she said, adding that many of the women had five or six children with them and that water was hard to find.

She held her niece, who was born during the conflict, which has killed her father and brothers.

When Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7 they killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the air and ground offensive Israel launched in response, Palestinian health officials say.

Hana Al-Sayed Abu Mustafa arrived at the prison after being displaced six times.

If Egyptian, US and Qatari mediators fail to secure a ceasefire they have long said is close, she and other Palestinians may be on the move once again. "Where should we go? All the places that we go to are dangerous," she said.