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Yemeni Government Stresses Need to Fight Houthi Evasiveness with Prisoner Swap Deal

At left, Abdelqader al-Murtada and Saelem Mohammed Noman Al-Mughalles, representatives of the Ansar Allah delegation and at right, Askar Zaeil and Hadi al-Hayi representing the delegation of the Government of Yemen sit at the negotiating table together with representatives from the office of the U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen and the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) when lists of prisoners are exchanged, a first step to implement the agreement to release all prisoners by the two parties, during the ongoing peace talks on Yemen held at Johannesberg Castle, in Rimbo, near Stockholm, Sweden, December 11, 2018. TT News Agency/Claudio Bresciani via REUTERS
At left, Abdelqader al-Murtada and Saelem Mohammed Noman Al-Mughalles, representatives of the Ansar Allah delegation and at right, Askar Zaeil and Hadi al-Hayi representing the delegation of the Government of Yemen sit at the negotiating table together with representatives from the office of the U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen and the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) when lists of prisoners are exchanged, a first step to implement the agreement to release all prisoners by the two parties, during the ongoing peace talks on Yemen held at Johannesberg Castle, in Rimbo, near Stockholm, Sweden, December 11, 2018. TT News Agency/Claudio Bresciani via REUTERS
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Yemeni Government Stresses Need to Fight Houthi Evasiveness with Prisoner Swap Deal

At left, Abdelqader al-Murtada and Saelem Mohammed Noman Al-Mughalles, representatives of the Ansar Allah delegation and at right, Askar Zaeil and Hadi al-Hayi representing the delegation of the Government of Yemen sit at the negotiating table together with representatives from the office of the U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen and the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) when lists of prisoners are exchanged, a first step to implement the agreement to release all prisoners by the two parties, during the ongoing peace talks on Yemen held at Johannesberg Castle, in Rimbo, near Stockholm, Sweden, December 11, 2018. TT News Agency/Claudio Bresciani via REUTERS
At left, Abdelqader al-Murtada and Saelem Mohammed Noman Al-Mughalles, representatives of the Ansar Allah delegation and at right, Askar Zaeil and Hadi al-Hayi representing the delegation of the Government of Yemen sit at the negotiating table together with representatives from the office of the U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen and the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) when lists of prisoners are exchanged, a first step to implement the agreement to release all prisoners by the two parties, during the ongoing peace talks on Yemen held at Johannesberg Castle, in Rimbo, near Stockholm, Sweden, December 11, 2018. TT News Agency/Claudio Bresciani via REUTERS

Yemeni Foreign Ministry Khaled al-Yamani confirmed the government delegate, alongside Saudi and UAE representatives, has prepared and presented a strong letter criticizing violations committed by Iran-backed Houthi militiamen.

Houthis, despite signing to the UN-brokered Stockholm Agreement, have carried continued amassing fighters, building weapon capacities, digging trenches and looting humanitarian relief and exploiting it for the group’s apparently ongoing war effort.

“Coupists, given the group’s evasive behavior when it comes to the prisoner swap issue, seem to be practicing multi-faceted extortion against the international community,” al-Yamani told Asharq Al-Awsat on the eve of launching prisoner exchange talks in Amman, Jordan.

Yemen’s warring sides have started talks in the Jordanian capital about a deal to free thousands of prisoners as part of UN-led peace efforts.

The top diplomat said that the Yemeni government wishes for the international community and the humanitarian relief groups to weigh in and place pressure on Houthis so that they comply with commitments.

Houthis do not seem determined on fulfilling agreements, al-Yamani said while pointing out that the international community is well aware that the Iran-backed militia is unwilling to comply with peace efforts and doesn’t seriously want a solution for the conflict.

He went on to reaffirm the unquestionable support the internationally-recognized Yemeni government, headed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, holds for UN-led peace efforts, saying that it stems from a conviction that diplomacy is the only solution to empower state institutions and to dismantle the detrimental agenda upheld by coupists.

According to al-Yamani, Houthis refusing to provide details on 232 detainees covered by the UN Security Council resolution 2216 is a grave violation that undermines confidence-building measures initiated by the Stockholm agreement.

Adressing questions on the arrival of a number of European ambassadors to Aden, al-Yamani said that this visit is meant to explore efforts undertaken by the legitimate Yemeni government.

The EU mission and a group of ambassadors will meet with the government in the interim capital of Aden.

Al-Yamani said that the visit restores clarity to confusion previously induced by understating positive efforts exerted by the Yemeni government.

The hard labors of the Yemeni government, according to al-Yamani, cannot be overlooked, especially as it first and foremost has the service of Yemenis at heart.

The Yemeni government works around the clock to strengthen the financial and administrative institutions to ensure that workers in all sectors of the country are paid, the diplomat said.

Backed by the Saudi-led Arab Coalition, al-Yamani said that the government is keen on restoring life in Yemen.

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Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
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Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb

An Israeli strike on a Lebanese army center on Sunday killed one soldier and wounded 18 others, the Lebanese military said.

It was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes that have killed over 40 Lebanese troops, even as the military has largely kept to the sidelines in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has said previous strikes on Lebanese troops were accidental and that they are not a target of its campaign against Hezbollah.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned it as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.

“(Israel is) again writing in Lebanese blood a brazen rejection of the solution that is being discussed,” a statement from his office read.

The strike occurred in southwestern Lebanon on the coastal road between Tyre and Naqoura, where there has been heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes since the rocket fire began, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war, as Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.

Israeli airstrikes early Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 20 people and wounding 66, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Hezbollah has continued to fire regular barrages into Israel, forcing people to race for shelters and occasionally killing or wounding them.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardments in northern Israel and in battle following Israel's ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country's north.

Hezbollah fired barrages of rockets into northern and central Israel on Sunday, some of which were intercepted.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating two people in the central city of Petah Tikva, a 23-year-old man who was lightly wounded by a blast and a 70-year-old woman suffering from smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire. The first responders said they also treated two women in their 50s who were wounded in northern Israel.

It was unclear whether the injuries and damage were caused by the rockets or interceptors.

The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a ceasefire, and US envoy Amos Hochstein was back in the region last week.

The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol the area, with the presence of UN peacekeepers.