Arab Coalition to Launch UN-Sponsored Initiative for Children Affected by Yemen War

Arab Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki. (Reuters)
Arab Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki. (Reuters)
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Arab Coalition to Launch UN-Sponsored Initiative for Children Affected by Yemen War

Arab Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki. (Reuters)
Arab Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki. (Reuters)

The Saudi-led Arab coalition will launch a UN-sponsored global initiative to support children affected by the war in Yemen, reported the Saudi Press Agency.

Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki said that efforts are underway between Saudi Arabia, the UN and some members of the alliance to launch the initiative this month.

It will focus on reintegrating children affected by war into society, he told a press conference in Riyadh.

Moreover, he underscored the memorandum of understanding signed last month between the Arab coalition and UN to protect children affected by Yemen’s war.

Maliki said that the agreement was a product of the cooperation between the alliance and UN to protect Yemen’s children.

He stressed that the coalition was still taking the necessary measures to avoid children being dragged into the armed conflict. The Iran-backed Houthi militias, on the other hand, are recruiting children by force or by luring them in return for material rewards.

According to UN rights reports, the Houthis are accused of recruiting more than 24,000 children, he charged.

He revealed that 113 children affected by the Yemen war have been rehabilitated by the coalition and returned to their families through the legitimate Yemeni government and the International Committee of the Red Cross.



Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 72 People in Gaza

Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli strike near a school sheltering displaced people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, near the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli strike near a school sheltering displaced people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, near the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
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Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 72 People in Gaza

Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli strike near a school sheltering displaced people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, near the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli strike near a school sheltering displaced people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, near the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Israeli strikes killed at least 72 people across Gaza overnight and into Saturday, health workers said, as ceasefire prospects were said to be improving after 21 months of war.

Three children and their parents were killed in an Israeli strike on a tent camp in Muwasi near the southern city of Khan Younis. They were struck while sleeping, relatives said.

“What did these children do to them? What is their fault?” said the children’s grandmother, Suad Abu Teima, as others knelt to kiss their bloodied faces and wept. Some placed red flowers into the body bags.

Also among the dead were 12 people near the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, which was sheltering displaced people, and eight more in apartments, according to staff at Shifa Hospital. More than 20 bodies were taken to Nasser Hospital, according to health officials.

A midday strike killed 11 people on a street in eastern Gaza City, and their bodies were taken to Al-Ahli Hospital. Another strike on a gathering in eastern Gaza City killed eight including five children, the hospital said. A strike on a gathering at the entrance to the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed two, according to Al-Awda Hospital.

US President Donald Trump says there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week. Taking questions from reporters on Friday, he said, “We’re working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of.”

An official with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer will arrive in Washington next week for talks on a Gaza ceasefire, Iran and other subjects. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas have been on again, off again since Israel broke the latest ceasefire in March, continuing its military campaign in Gaza and furthering the territory's dire humanitarian crisis. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, fewer than half believed to still be alive. They were among 251 hostages taken when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, sparking the war.