Yemeni Government Raises Alarm on Houthi Smuggling of National Relics

Reuters
Reuters
TT

Yemeni Government Raises Alarm on Houthi Smuggling of National Relics

Reuters
Reuters

A Yemeni government security official confirmed influential Houthi leaders involvement in illegal antiquities trade.

Yemeni Deputy Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Mohammed Salem bin Aboud al-Sharif said that research, investigative and intelligence teams had picked up in recent days information which revealed that influential figures among guerrilla militias were responsible for the smuggling of antiquities outside the war-torn country.

Bin Abboud, in a phone conversation with Asharq Al-Awsat, explained that antiquities had been illegally transferred from Houthi-run areas, adding that INTERPOL had been contacted to follow up on the matter.

The Yemeni Interior Ministry, delivering instructions to public bureaus and government-controlled ports, stressed the need to intensify the work of vetting and monitoring systems. Bin Aboud said all smuggling operations were carried out from the ports controlled by the militias, referring to the ports lying off the country’s west coast.

Further, on the matter, the Yemeni interior ministry is working to uncover smuggling operations through implementing an assorted mix of expert strategy and security plans. Insofar, the ministry’s efforts have helped in thwarting several trafficking and smuggling attempts, the most recent achievement being the detecting and blocking the delivery of a shipment containing illegal arms and drones.

Bin Abboud attributed the success of government efforts in intercepting trafficking operations to the accuracy of information exchange upheld by relevant government agencies and subsequent rapid responses.

He also confirmed that all areas falling under Houthis control are prone to mega smuggling operations that involve weaponry and counterfeit cash. He added that the Ministry of Interior had succeeded in spotting and intercepting large quantities of cash destined for Sanaa, a Houthi stronghold.



Israeli Foreign Minister Says No Plans for Talks with Lebanese Govt

 Israeli tanks maneuver on the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, amid escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in northern Israel, March 15, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli tanks maneuver on the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, amid escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in northern Israel, March 15, 2026. (Reuters)
TT

Israeli Foreign Minister Says No Plans for Talks with Lebanese Govt

 Israeli tanks maneuver on the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, amid escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in northern Israel, March 15, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli tanks maneuver on the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, amid escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in northern Israel, March 15, 2026. (Reuters)

Israel's foreign minister on Sunday denied reports that Israel could soon hold direct talks with Lebanon and rejected claims it had told the United States it was running low on interceptors. 

Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported on Saturday that ‌Israel and Lebanon were ‌expected to hold ‌direct ⁠talks in the ⁠coming days. Semafor also reported that Israel had informed Washington it was running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors. 

Both reports cited unnamed sources. 

Asked about the weekend ⁠reports, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said: "For ‌the ‌two questions, the answer is no." 

He also ‌said that Israel sees "eye-to-eye" ‌with the US in the war with Iran, now in its 16th day, and that the two allies were ‌determined to continue until their goals are achieved. 

"We want ⁠to ⁠remove the existential threats from Iran for the long term. We don't want to go every year to another war," he told reporters. 

Saar was speaking from a Bedouin Arab town in northern Israel near an Israeli Air Force base where homes were damaged in an Iranian missile attack last week. 


Hamas Official Said Killed by Israeli Strike in Lebanon

Debris is strewn along a street and vehicles after a residential apartment block was struck in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
Debris is strewn along a street and vehicles after a residential apartment block was struck in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
TT

Hamas Official Said Killed by Israeli Strike in Lebanon

Debris is strewn along a street and vehicles after a residential apartment block was struck in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
Debris is strewn along a street and vehicles after a residential apartment block was struck in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik on March 15, 2026. (AFP)

A Hamas source said an Israeli strike on south Lebanon on Sunday killed an official from the Palestinian group as Hezbollah said it fired an "advanced missile" at an air base near Tel Aviv. 

Israel said no direct talks were planned with Lebanon to end the latest war which has been raging for two weeks. The statement came a day after a Lebanese official said Beirut was preparing a delegation to negotiate with Israel. 

Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war on March 2 when Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes, with Israel launching air raids on the neighboring country and troop incursions into border areas. 

Lebanese authorities said the death toll in Israeli attacks rose to 850, while more than 830,000 people have registered as displaced. 

Driving rain on Sunday piled more misery on displaced people, hundreds of whom have been sleeping rough or in tents near central Beirut's seafront. 

Coffee shop owner Nader, 42, displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs, said he had rebuilt his home after it was destroyed in 2024 during the previous Israel-Hezbollah conflict but "I am sure they have destroyed it again... but I haven't been able to check." 

"Here we have nothing and the situation is very bad with the heavy rains and wind -- it's very cold, lots of babies are sick and we can't protect them," he told AFP. 

- 'No' talks - 

The state-run National News Agency said Israel struck "an apartment in a residential building" in a northern district of the coastal city of Sidon, killing one person and causing a fire. 

An AFP correspondent saw damage to the third storey of an apartment building as the army cordoned off the area and rescue teams worked to extinguish the blaze and residents rushed into the street, some carrying belongings. 

The Hamas source, requesting anonymity, said the strike killed official Wissam Taha. 

Israel has repeatedly struck Hamas targets in Lebanon in recent years, including during previous hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah that erupted over the Gaza war, and after a 2024 ceasefire. 

Hezbollah claimed a series of attacks on sites in Israel and on Israeli troops in south Lebanon on Sunday, including one that it said targeted the Palmachim air base south of Tel Aviv, around 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the Lebanese-Israeli border, with "an advanced missile". 

The Israeli military said in a statement Sunday it continued to strike infrastructure used by Hezbollah throughout Lebanon. 

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has proposed direct negotiations with Israel, but Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Sunday responded "no" when asked whether Israel was set to hold such talks. 

- Debris - 

A Lebanese official had told AFP on Saturday that the country was preparing to form a delegation to negotiate with Israel but that there was no agenda, timing or location yet decided for any talks. 

French President Emmanuel Macron has said the Lebanese government was ready to engage in "direct talks" with Israel and he offered to host negotiations in Paris, warning that "everything must be done to prevent Lebanon from descending into chaos". 

The NNA reported Israeli strikes on various areas of the country's south and east, while Israel's military renewed an evacuation warning for Beirut's southern suburbs, which it has repeatedly struck in the past fortnight. 

An AFP photographer in south Beirut saw empty streets covered with debris and buildings flattened, with smoke still rising in the area after strikes in previous days. 

Southeast of Sidon, in the village of Al-Qatrani, three people were killed in an overnight Israeli strike, according to Lebanon's health ministry. 

The Israeli military said it hit "several Hezbollah launch sites" in Al-Qatrani, where it said the armed group was preparing to fire off missiles. 

It also said it had destroyed "command centers" belonging to Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force in Beirut. 


Israeli Ground Incursions in South Lebanon Shift Hezbollah’s Combat Priorities

Two Israeli tanks deployed along the border barrier with Lebanon during fighting with Hezbollah (EPA). 
Two Israeli tanks deployed along the border barrier with Lebanon during fighting with Hezbollah (EPA). 
TT

Israeli Ground Incursions in South Lebanon Shift Hezbollah’s Combat Priorities

Two Israeli tanks deployed along the border barrier with Lebanon during fighting with Hezbollah (EPA). 
Two Israeli tanks deployed along the border barrier with Lebanon during fighting with Hezbollah (EPA). 

Hezbollah has scaled back attacks deep inside Israel as it focuses on confronting expanding Israeli ground incursions into southern Lebanon, while Israel has widened its list of targets across Lebanese territory.

By Saturday afternoon, Hezbollah had issued 22 statements claiming attacks against Israeli forces. Most operations targeted Israeli military positions along the border, air-defense and surveillance systems, and northern Israeli settlements.

The group also said it struck Israeli soldiers and vehicles inside Lebanese territory, including near the municipality of Khiam, the town of Maroun al-Ras, and newly established Israeli positions at Blat and Nimr al-Jamal opposite the border town of Alma al-Shaab. Hezbollah also reported attacks around the Khiam detention center, west of Blida and near Khazzan Hill in Adaisseh.

Efforts to repel Israeli ground advances now appear to top Hezbollah’s battlefield priorities after the Israeli army launched incursions along at least four axes, according to sources in southern Lebanon. They said Hezbollah had mobilized forces since the start of the war in preparation for a possible ground confrontation.

Israeli forces have sought to prevent reinforcements of fighters and equipment from reaching Hezbollah units in the south. Airstrikes severed key routes by hitting two bridges and two crossings linking areas south of the Litani River with those to the north, as well as roads between villages.

Sources stressed that these steps broaden Israel’s target list. “Israel also appears to be trying to empty the area by targeting ambulances and civil defense units in the south,” one source said.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli warplanes launched two airstrikes shortly after midnight on the Khardali road and bridge linking Nabatieh and Marjayoun near a Lebanese army checkpoint. The strikes left a large crater and completely cut the road.

Medical Facilities Targeted

Israeli strikes on ambulance centers and medical facilities since the start of the war have killed 22 paramedics, according to Lebanese officials.

The deadliest attack occurred Friday when an Israeli strike hit a primary health care center run by Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health in the town of Burj Qalaouiyeh, killing 12 doctors, paramedics and nurses. The Health Ministry described the strike as a “flagrant attack on the country’s official health care network.”

Another strike hit a gathering point for the Islamic Health Authority and the Al-Risala Scouts Association in the town of Souwaneh, killing two people.

The Israeli military said Hezbollah was using ambulances and medical facilities for military purposes and accused the group of transporting rockets and other weapons in civilian trucks along Lebanon’s coastal areas.

Heavy Strikes Across the South

Israeli airstrikes also intensified across southern Lebanon, targeting towns including Majdal Zoun, Yater, Taybeh, Sajd in the Iqlim al-Tuffah region and Zawtar al-Sharqiyah in the Nabatieh district, where a strike destroyed a house belonging to the Harb family.

Two heavy strikes hit the town of Khiam in the Marjayoun district, while Naqoura came under artillery fire and warplanes targeted Kharayeb.

In the Hasbaya district, Israeli artillery shelled the outskirts of Shebaa. Later, Israeli forces targeted Bint Jbeil, Ainata, Aitaroun and the outskirts of Maroun al-Ras as clashes intensified with Hezbollah fighters along several fronts. The Wadi al-Hujayr area also came under artillery fire.

The escalation also affected UN peacekeepers. Kandice Ardiel, spokeswoman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, said a UN position near Mais al-Jabal was hit, likely by heavy machine-gun fire, sparking a fire at the site and slightly injuring a peacekeeper.

UNIFIL said it had opened an investigation and reminded all parties of their obligation to ensure the safety of peacekeepers at all times.