Arab Coalition: Iranian Weapons Seized from Houthis in Yemen

A soldier loyal to Yemen’s government aims a machine gun at a Houthi position in central province of Marib on October 19, 2015. (Reuters)
A soldier loyal to Yemen’s government aims a machine gun at a Houthi position in central province of Marib on October 19, 2015. (Reuters)
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Arab Coalition: Iranian Weapons Seized from Houthis in Yemen

A soldier loyal to Yemen’s government aims a machine gun at a Houthi position in central province of Marib on October 19, 2015. (Reuters)
A soldier loyal to Yemen’s government aims a machine gun at a Houthi position in central province of Marib on October 19, 2015. (Reuters)

The Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen announced on Wednesday that it had seized Iranian-made weapons from Houthi militias.

Spokesman for the coalition Turki al-Maliki announced during a press conference: “We are receiving several contacts over a list of wanted Houthis. We are aware of the movements of the fugitives in Yemen.”

The coalition command welcomed the United Nations Security Council’s condemnation of the Houthis’ launch of a ballistic missile towards Saudi Arabia, adding: “There is a responsibility on some countries that are turning a blind eye to the arms being smuggled to the Houthis.”

To that end, the coalition revealed that a new search and investigation mechanism was put in place to uncover smuggled weapons.

Saudi Arabia announced on December 19 that it had intercepted south of Riyadh a ballistic missile that was fired by the Houthis. No one was injured and no damages were incurred in the incident, which was widely condemned by the international community.

In addition, Maliki revealed that five ships loaded with fuel headed to Yemen’s Hodeidah port this week. The coalition also granted ten permits to allow the passage of aid through land portals.

The alliance continues to provide humanitarian aid to the Yemeni people, he stressed, while saying that some food aid was airdropped in besieged regions.

Moreover, Maliki revealed that the Houthis were expelled from the Shabwa region and “it is now under the control of the legitimate Yemeni government.”

The area is now being swept for mines that the militia left behind, he stated.

Furthermore, he stressed that the national Yemeni army was advancing “strongly” on al-Bayda province.

“The Houthis have lost a lot of their civil leaders and their morale is low,” said the coalition spokesman.

He urged anyone who has information on the Houthi terrorists to come forward, adding that the coalition carried out strikes against 412 Houthi targets, some of which were near the Saudi Arabia border. Other targets included a rocket factory in Saada, weapons caches and Houthi gathering points.



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)
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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.