Yemen’s Foreign Ministry Says UN Coordinator Is Biased, Calls For Replacing Him

Houthi insurgents operate a checkpoint at the southern entrance to the city of Sanaa November 15, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi
Houthi insurgents operate a checkpoint at the southern entrance to the city of Sanaa November 15, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi
TT
20

Yemen’s Foreign Ministry Says UN Coordinator Is Biased, Calls For Replacing Him

Houthi insurgents operate a checkpoint at the southern entrance to the city of Sanaa November 15, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi
Houthi insurgents operate a checkpoint at the southern entrance to the city of Sanaa November 15, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi

Yemen’s Foreign Affairs Ministry accused UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen Jamie McGoldrick of siding with Houthi militias and violating international resolutions.

An official source at the ministry condemned McGoldrick’s “biased statements”, which “raise doubts about the real goals that the coordinator seeks to achieve and the background behind his repeated stances” in support of the militias, “despite the crimes committed against civilians and continued kidnappings of citizens.”

“The statement issued by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Jimmy McGoldrick, on December 28, 2017 was biased, politicized and unprofessional. It did not address the crimes committed by the insurgents and ignored the real tragic situation created by the militias, which resulted in further violations, confiscation of funds and destruction of public and private properties, as well as intimidation of citizens and the transformation of Sanaa into a large prison,” the Yemeni source said, as reported by Saba official news agency.

The Yemeni foreign ministry went on to call on the United Nations to investigate the “real goals” behind McGoldrick’s statements and to implement changes in the staff of the Coordinator’s office.

“The Yemeni foreign ministry, which believes in the importance of the role of international frameworks working in the protection of human rights, calls on the United Nations to reconsider and investigate the real objectives of the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen and even calls for a radical change in the staff of the Office of the Coordinator, beginning with McGoldrick, in order to guarantee a real and impartial assessment of the abuses committed by the Houthi terrorist militias,” the statement added.

The foreign ministry held “the Iranian militias responsible for the acts of violence against innocent civilians across the Yemeni governorates and for the lack of respect for the principles of international humanitarian law.”

It is noteworthy that the statement of the Yemeni foreign ministry was preceded by a strong response issued by the coalition to support legitimacy in Yemen, in which it denounced McGoldrick’s statement, noting that the coordinator has violated Security Council resolutions when he described Houthi militias as a “de facto authority.”



Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
TT
20

Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli airstrikes on Sunday killed at least 29 Palestinians, including six children near a water distribution point.

The attacks came with apparent deadlock in a week of indirect talks in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas for a ceasefire in the territory.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Gaza City was hit by several strikes overnight and in the early morning, killing eight, "including women and children" and wounding others.

An Israeli airstrike hit a family home near the Nuseirat refugee camp, south of Gaza City, resulting in "10 martyrs and several injured", Bassal said.

In central Gaza, six children were among eight people killed when a drone "hit a potable water distribution point in an area for displaced people" in the Nuseirat camp, he added.

Several other people were wounded, he said.

In the territory's south, three people were killed when Israeli jets hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the coastal Al-Mawasi area, according to the civil defense spokesman.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has recently intensified its operations across Gaza, more than 21 months into the war triggered by Hamas's October 2023 attack.

On Saturday, the military said fighter jets had hit more than 35 "Hamas terror targets" around Beit Hanun in northern Gaza.

The vast majority of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions in the territory.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency and other parties.