Exclusive- Houthis in Muscat Soon to Discuss Int’l Proposal

The Yemeni capital Sana’a on Dec. 3, 2017. Photo: Mohammed Huwais/AFP
The Yemeni capital Sana’a on Dec. 3, 2017. Photo: Mohammed Huwais/AFP
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Exclusive- Houthis in Muscat Soon to Discuss Int’l Proposal

The Yemeni capital Sana’a on Dec. 3, 2017. Photo: Mohammed Huwais/AFP
The Yemeni capital Sana’a on Dec. 3, 2017. Photo: Mohammed Huwais/AFP

A Houthi delegation is expected to move from Sana’a to Muscat aboard a UN airplane in the next few days to attend talks led by international and regional parties aimed at achieving peace in Yemen, informed Yemeni sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The sources spoke on Thursday about talks that kicked off with Omani officials concerning proposals made by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson regarding the Yemeni file.

When the British Foreign Office was asked whether London has made any move or proposal in this regard, the office’ spokesperson would neither confirm nor deny any UK initiative concerning Yemen.

“The British government supports all diplomatic efforts for solving the conflict in Yemen and also backs all UN efforts to bring parties to the negotiating table,” the spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, diplomats told Asharq Al-Awsat that US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called on all permanent members of the Security Council to visit Washington on January 29 and hold high-level meetings with US officials. 

The sources said that those meetings, which could include one with President Donald Trump, would prove Iran’s role in exporting arms to Yemen, including ballistic missiles to Houthi militias, in addition to Tehran’s role in shaking stability in the Middle East by supporting Lebanon's “Hezbollah.”

The diplomatic sources also spoke about a Russian-Western dispute that took place at a UN closed meeting when Moscow expressed its reservations over some points mentioned in a UN report on Yemen's civil war.

“Haley plans to invite her colleagues to inspect parts and remains of ballistic missiles launched by Houthis on Riyadh and other Saudi cities, and to reveal that those missiles came from Iran,” the sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. 



Israeli Forces Storm Major West Bank City of Nablus

Tear gas and smoke are pictured through a window during a large-scale Israeli military raid in the old town of Nablus city in the occupied West Bank, on June 10, 2025. (AFP)
Tear gas and smoke are pictured through a window during a large-scale Israeli military raid in the old town of Nablus city in the occupied West Bank, on June 10, 2025. (AFP)
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Israeli Forces Storm Major West Bank City of Nablus

Tear gas and smoke are pictured through a window during a large-scale Israeli military raid in the old town of Nablus city in the occupied West Bank, on June 10, 2025. (AFP)
Tear gas and smoke are pictured through a window during a large-scale Israeli military raid in the old town of Nablus city in the occupied West Bank, on June 10, 2025. (AFP)

Israel launched a large-scale military operation on Tuesday in the old city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, AFP journalists reported, with the army reporting injured troops and two Palestinians "eliminated".

Dozens of military vehicles entered the city shortly after midnight, an AFP journalist reported, after a curfew had been announced over loudspeakers the day before.

Military operations are focused on the old city, a densely populated area bordering a large downtown square where young men and boys gathered to burn tires and throw stones at armored vehicles.

The Israeli army said that one soldier was "moderately injured" and three others "lightly injured" when two Palestinians attempted to steal a soldier's weapon.

Troops opened fire and "eliminated" both Palestinians, the army said in a statement, using a term the military often uses when killing gunmen.

AFPTV footage showed Israeli soldiers standing in one of the old city's narrow streets, next to the bodies of two civilians.

Neither Palestinian medics nor the Israeli army confirmed the two deaths.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Tuesday that three people were injured from bullet shrapnel, four from "physical assaults", and dozens more from tear gas inhalation.

It added that many injuries had to be handled within the old city after its ambulances were blocked from entering.

Nablus is located in the northern West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.

The territory's north has been the target of a major Israeli military operation dubbed "Iron Wall" since January 21.

On Tuesday, Israeli soldiers entered shops to search them and arrested several people for questioning, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene.

The correspondent added that Israeli flags were raised over the roofs of buildings in the Old City that had been turned into temporary bases for Israeli troops.

Violence has surged in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, triggered by the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian movement Hamas on Israel.

At least 938 Palestinians, including fighters but also many civilians, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to data from the Palestinian Authority.

During the same period, least 35 Israelis, both civilians and soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military raids, according to official Israeli figures.