Paris Conference Over Yemen Discusses Clear Mechanisms to Deliver Aids

Socotra residents escaping severe flooding/AFP
Socotra residents escaping severe flooding/AFP
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Paris Conference Over Yemen Discusses Clear Mechanisms to Deliver Aids

Socotra residents escaping severe flooding/AFP
Socotra residents escaping severe flooding/AFP

Yemeni Minister of Local Administration and chairman of Higher Committee for Relief in Yemen Abdul Raqeeb Fateh told Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday that the scheduled Paris conference for the reconstruction of Yemen would discuss clear mechanisms for the delivery of humanitarian aids to the entire Yemeni territories, based on the announcement made by foreign ministers of the Saudi-led Arab coalition.

“The Yemeni government has specific guidelines which were presented during the Geneva meeting held last April.

Those guidelines focus on moving from an early recovery response to one related to the livelihoods and the needs of people, to enhance stability and provide revenue streams to the Yemenis,” Fateh said.

The Minister noted that an early recovery would still be needed even following the end of the war, however, he stressed the importance of moving to the second stage.

He said the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen had already announced the presence of 22 safe-passage corridors to ensure guarded passage of humanitarian aid to Yemen.

“The Paris meeting would discuss means that could facilitate the delivery of aid to targeted areas and would also witness an invitation call for all humanitarian organizations, particularly those operating under the United Nations, to effectively operate in Yemen through a decentralized relief system and to improve efficiency in the use of funds and effectively achieve the set goals and the targets of the humanitarian operation,” Fateh said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Samer Al Jutaily, Spokesperson for King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) told Asharq Al-Awsat that a relief team already left Saudi Arabia to Socotra on a relief mission, adding that the visit preceded the arrival of the tropical storm to the Yemeni Island.

“We have already delivered 20 tons of aid, providing a large supply for humanitarian aid to around 150,000 Yemeni families,” Al Jutaily said.



Israeli Security Minister Enters Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound ‘In Prayer’ for Gaza Hostages

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, in Jerusalem's Old City, December 26, 2024. (Itamar Ben-Gvir's spokesperson/Handout via Reuters)
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, in Jerusalem's Old City, December 26, 2024. (Itamar Ben-Gvir's spokesperson/Handout via Reuters)
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Israeli Security Minister Enters Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound ‘In Prayer’ for Gaza Hostages

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, in Jerusalem's Old City, December 26, 2024. (Itamar Ben-Gvir's spokesperson/Handout via Reuters)
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, in Jerusalem's Old City, December 26, 2024. (Itamar Ben-Gvir's spokesperson/Handout via Reuters)

Israel's ultranationalist security minister ascended to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Thursday for what he said was a "prayer" for hostages in Gaza, freshly challenging rules over one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East.

Israel's official position accepts decades-old rules restricting non-Muslim prayer at the compound, Islam's third holiest site and known as Temple Mount to Jews, who revere it as the site of two ancient temples.

Under a delicate decades-old "status quo" arrangement with Muslim authorities, the Al-Aqsa compound is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and, under rules dating back decades, Jews can visit but may not pray there.

In a post on X, hardline Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said: "I ascended today to our holy place, in prayer for the welfare of our soldiers, to swiftly return all the hostages and total victory with God's help."

The post included a picture of Ben-Gvir walking in the compound, situated on an elevated plaza in Jerusalem's walled Old City, but no images or video of him praying.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office immediately released a statement restating the official Israeli position.

Palestinian group Hamas took about 250 hostages in its Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli tallies. In the ensuing war in Gaza, Israeli forces have killed over 45,300 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave.

Suggestions from Israeli ultranationalists that Israel would alter rules about religious observance at the Al-Aqsa compound have sparked violence with Palestinians in the past.

In August, Ben-Gvir repeated a call for Jews to be allowed to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, drawing sharp criticism, and he has visited the mosque compound in the past.

Ben-Gvir, head of one of two religious-nationalist parties in Netanyahu's coalition, has a long record of making inflammatory statements appreciated by his own supporters, but conflicting with the government's official line.

Israeli police in the past have prevented ministers from ascending to the compound on the grounds that it endangers national security. Ben-Gvir's ministerial file gives him oversight over Israel's national police force.