Pro-Houthi MP Accuses Militias of Torturing Hodeidah Residents

UN vehicles on their way to Saleef port are seen at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen May 11, 2019. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad
UN vehicles on their way to Saleef port are seen at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen May 11, 2019. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad
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Pro-Houthi MP Accuses Militias of Torturing Hodeidah Residents

UN vehicles on their way to Saleef port are seen at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen May 11, 2019. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad
UN vehicles on their way to Saleef port are seen at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen May 11, 2019. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad

A pro-Houthi MP attacked the Iran-backed militias’ leadership during a meeting for deputies in Sanaa.

He accused it of intentionally torturing Hodeidah residents by not providing them with electricity to overcome summer season’s heat despite sufficient amount of fund available for that.

MP Abdu Bishr, who is known for opposing the group’s policies, said that its MPs have announced adding the prices of oil derivatives sold in areas that fall under the militias’ control to implement electricity project for Hodeidah’s residents, but these funds “seem to have lost their way to an unknown destination.”

Bishr called on Sanaa deputies, who are subject to the group, to take firm stances in order to know the fate of these funds, which are collected for Hodeidah’s electricity. He pointed out that these funds are being looted and seized by Houthi leaders.

Bishr was a minister in the coup government before he was ousted.

Houthis have attacked his home in Sanaa a few days ago and arrested two of his bodyguards.

Hodeidah residents told Asharq Al-Awsat that life is no longer bearable in the city due to summer heat and the lack of electricity. They said only Houthi leaders and their followers have access to electricity, which is being supplied for them for free.

Residents stressed that the militias have imposed huge sums on private generator owners, who sell electricity for people.

This has caused a hike in prices, preventing a number of people from access to their basic needs.



Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Lebanon, including 5 Hezbollah Fighters

Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
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Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Lebanon, including 5 Hezbollah Fighters

Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.

Heavy Israeli airstrikes killed 12 people, including five Hezbollah fighters, in eastern Lebanon on Tuesday, a security source in Lebanon said, in what Israel said was a warning to the Iran-backed group against trying to re-establish itself.

The Israeli military said the airstrikes targeted training camps used by elite Hezbollah fighters and warehouses it used to store weapons in the Bekaa Valley region of eastern Lebanon.

The airstrikes were the deadliest on the area since a US-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel last November. Bachir Khodr, governor of the Bekaa region, said seven of the dead were Syrian nationals.

Israel dealt Hezbollah heavy blows in last year's conflict, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah along with other commanders and destroying much of its arsenal.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday's strikes sent a "clear message" to Hezbollah, accusing it of planning to rebuild the capability to raid Israel through the elite Radwan force, Reuters reported.

Israel "will respond with maximum force to any attempt at rebuilding", he said. He added that strikes were also a message to the Lebanese government, saying it was responsible for upholding the ceasefire agreement.

There was no immediate public response from Hezbollah or from the Lebanese government to the latest Israeli strikes.

The United States has submitted a proposal to the Lebanese government aimed at securing Hezbollah's disarmament within four months in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from positions they still hold in south Lebanon.

Under the terms of the ceasefire brokered by the US and France, Lebanon's armed forces were to confiscate "all unauthorized arms", beginning in the area south of the Litani River - the zone closest to Israel.