Public Institutions to Reopen in Yemen’s Cyclone-Stricken Mahra

Saudi aid arrives in Yemen’s Mahra. (SPA)
Saudi aid arrives in Yemen’s Mahra. (SPA)
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Public Institutions to Reopen in Yemen’s Cyclone-Stricken Mahra

Saudi aid arrives in Yemen’s Mahra. (SPA)
Saudi aid arrives in Yemen’s Mahra. (SPA)

Rageh Bakreet, governor of Yemen’s al-Mahra governorate, announced that public services will resume in the province on Monday they recovered enough from damage caused by the Luban category 1 cyclone.

He tweeted that all government employees must return to work according to schedule, but said that schools will remain closed until further notice.

Schools are expected to reopen gates on Tuesday.

Some school buildings are currently functioning as shelters for families that had escaped flooding.

On the other hand, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) program for airlifting relief to the storm-ravaged Mahra continued its aid efforts to those affected by the cyclone.

A third relief shipment landed in Mahra, delivering tents which are being distributed by a specialized KSRelief team that is also expected to assess the current situation.

Efforts exerted by Saudi Arabia to aid Yemen through its hardship are acting under direct orders of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.

The Kingdom’s aid is vital to the Yemeni people and is ensuring that basic needs, like food and shelter, are being provided.

Saudi relief teams distributed 49 tons of emergency food aid to displaced Yemenis in schools and areas affected by Luban, reaching some 3,960 people.

On Wednesday, KSRelief announced that it distributed 45 tons of emergency food aid and 480 blankets to displaced people in schools and besieged areas in Mahra districts, benefiting 4,080 people.

As part of its efforts to aid Yemenis, the internationally-recognized Yemeni government in Aden sent a relief convoy to Mahra.

The convoy will be delivering basic supplies, such as wheat, flour, oil, water, dates, shelter materials, blankets, clothes, plastic materials and 20 tons in medical supplies, in partnership with the World Health Organization.

Industry and Trade Minister Salem al-Wali praised the government agencies and the private sector for carrying out necessary efforts to aid Mahra.



Israel Detains 240 Palestinians Including Medics after Gaza Hospital Raid

Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital, shows the damage inside the hospital, during the ongoing Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, December 18, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital, shows the damage inside the hospital, during the ongoing Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, December 18, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
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Israel Detains 240 Palestinians Including Medics after Gaza Hospital Raid

Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital, shows the damage inside the hospital, during the ongoing Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, December 18, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital, shows the damage inside the hospital, during the ongoing Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, December 18, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer

Israeli forces detained more than 240 Palestinians including dozens of medical staff and the director of a north Gaza hospital they raided on Friday, according to the Health Ministry in the enclave and Israel's military.

The Health Ministry said it was concerned about the well-being of Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, as some staff freed by the Israeli military late on Friday said he was beaten up by soldiers.

The Israeli military said the hospital was being used as a command center for Hamas military operations and those arrested were suspected fighters. It said Abu Safiya was taken for questioning as he was suspected of being a Hamas operative.

On Friday, Hamas dismissed as lies Israel's assertion that its fighters had operated from the hospital throughout the 15-month-old Gaza war, saying no fighters were in the hospital. The group had not yet commented on the 240 arrests.

The raid on the hospital, one of three medical facilities on the northern edge of Gaza, put the last major health facility in north Gaza out of service, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a post on X.

The "WHO is appalled by yesterday’s raid. The systematic dismantling of the health system and a siege for over 80 days on North Gaza puts the lives of the 75,000 Palestinians remaining in the area at risk," the WHO said.

Some patients were evacuated from Kamal Adwan to the Indonesian Hospital, which is not in service, and medics were prevented from joining them there, the Gaza Health Ministry said. Other patients and staff were taken to other medical facilities.

The Israeli military said 350 patients and medical personnel were evacuated prior to the Kamal Adwan operation, while another 95 were evacuated to the Indonesian Hospital during the operation, in coordination with local health authorities.

Separately, the Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli strikes across the enclave killed 18 Palestinians on Saturday, at least nine of them in a house in Maghazi camp in central Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes and fatalities.

TARGETS IN NORTHERN GAZA

In the past few months Israeli forces have pushed people out and razed much of the area around the northern Gaza towns of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya.

Palestinians have accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing by depopulating those areas to create a buffer zone. Israel denies it is doing this, saying it aims to prevent Hamas fighters from regrouping in these areas.

The Israeli military said on Saturday it had begun operating overnight against targets in the Beit Hanoun area, adding that "troops are enabling civilians still in the area to move away for their own safety".

The military also posted new evacuation orders to residents of Beit Hanoun, ordering them to leave and head towards the southern areas of the Gaza Strip, citing rockets fired from the area.

In a statement, it said two rockets fired from north Gaza towards Jerusalem and other Israeli territory were intercepted.

Israel's campaign against Hamas, which previously controlled Gaza, has killed more than 45,400 Palestinians, according to health officials in the enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.

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