Legitimacy Spokesman to Asharq Al-Awsat: Isnad Aids in Restoring Ports

Yemeni government spokesman Rajeh Badi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Yemeni government spokesman Rajeh Badi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Legitimacy Spokesman to Asharq Al-Awsat: Isnad Aids in Restoring Ports

Yemeni government spokesman Rajeh Badi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Yemeni government spokesman Rajeh Badi (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Yemeni government's top priority is to restore basic services and stabilize security in all Yemeni provinces, according to a senior Yemeni government official.

"The main services are to ensure the stability of electricity, especially as the country is coming to a hot summer season, and some areas of the country are suffering from shortages of basic necessities," Yemeni government spokesman Rajeh Badi told Asharq al-Awsat.

The spokesman stressed the importance of the Isnad Center for comprehensive humanitarian operation throughout Yemen and King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief). He stated that a Yemeni Higher Committee was formed to implement the grant program which enables the government overcome power cuts in all Yemeni provinces.

Badi stressed that the government's priority is to resolve the situation of workers in Aden and the rest of the Yemeni provinces, indicating that the return of the Yemeni government to Aden is a “message to the inside and outside that Yemenis only accept the legitimacy of Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and that the society will not be associated with any armed rebellion within Yemeni territories.”

Badi stated that Isnad center and KSRelief are both working to increase productivity in all Yemeni ports urgently and quickly, noting that this is done in four ports Mukalla, al-Sheih, Aden and al-Mocha, by reconstructing their docks to increase the reception of relief aid.

On recent military developments carried out by the Yemeni National Army, backed by the Coalition, the spokesman said that the field visits of Arab coalition commanders was a clear message to those who doubt that Midi on the west coast was completely liberated, lauding the progress of the forces in Saada governorate. For the first time, Yemeni forces reached Marran heights, hometown of Houthi militia leader.

He also discussed the reconstruction on the main roads in Yemeni governorates, done under the support of Isnad center. He stated that the operations are done as well in areas reaching governorates under Houthi militias control in order to ensure the speedy access of aid to all Yemenis, including citizens in areas under Houthis control.

Badi concluded by revealing that some relief aid is confiscated in Houthi areas and charges are imposed on them which led to raising their prices in the black market.



Israeli Army Forces Patients Out of a North Gaza Hospital, Medics Say

 A Palestinian man walks with children in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A Palestinian man walks with children in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
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Israeli Army Forces Patients Out of a North Gaza Hospital, Medics Say

 A Palestinian man walks with children in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A Palestinian man walks with children in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)

Israeli troops forced the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza and many patients, some of them on foot, arrived at another hospital miles away in Gaza City, the territory's health ministry said on Tuesday.

The Indonesian Hospital is one of the Gaza Strip's few still partially functioning hospitals, on its northern edge, an area that has been under intense Israeli military pressure for nearly three months.

Israel says its operation around the three northern Gaza communities surrounding the hospital - Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia - is targeting Hamas fighters.

A statement from the Israeli military said the Indonesian Hospital was being used by fighters to launch attacks against Israeli troops and that it "facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, medical personnel, and patients from the area both before and during the operation".

Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone, which Israel denies.

Munir Al-Bursh, director of the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, said the Israeli army had ordered hospital officials to evacuate it on Monday, before storming it in the early hours of Tuesday and forcing those inside to leave.

He said two other medical facilities in northern Gaza, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan Hospitals, were also subject to frequent assaults by Israeli troops.

Israeli forces have operated in the vicinity of the Kamal Adwan hospital since Monday, medics said.

Officials at the three hospitals have refused orders by Israel to evacuate their facilities or leave patients unattended since the new military offensive began on Oct. 5.

Israel says it has been facilitating the delivery of medical supplies, fuel and the transfer of patients to other hospitals in the enclave during that period in collaboration with international agencies such as the World Health Organization.

Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, said they resisted a new order by the army to evacuate hundreds of patients, their companions and staff, adding that the hospital has been under constant Israeli fire that damaged generators, oxygen pumps and parts of the building.

An Israeli security official said the area was a Hamas stronghold.

"Kamal Adwan is at the heart of the most complex fighting in Jabaliya," he said. "We are being very careful."

NEW STRIKES

Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment continued elsewhere in the enclave and medics said at least nine Palestinians, including a member of the civil emergency service, were killed in four separate military strikes on Tuesday.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's campaign against Hamas has since killed more than 45,200 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.

A new bid by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the fighting and release Israeli and foreign hostages has gained momentum this month, though no breakthrough has been reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said progress had been made in hostage negotiations with Hamas but that he did not know how much longer it would take to see the results.

Gaps between Israel and Hamas over a possible Gaza ceasefire have narrowed, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials' remarks on Monday, though crucial differences have yet to be resolved.