Houthis Accused of Causing ‘Demographic Change’ in Sanaa

Armed Houthi followers carry their rifles as they attend a gathering to show support for the Houthi movement in Sanaa, Yemen December 19, 2018. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Armed Houthi followers carry their rifles as they attend a gathering to show support for the Houthi movement in Sanaa, Yemen December 19, 2018. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
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Houthis Accused of Causing ‘Demographic Change’ in Sanaa

Armed Houthi followers carry their rifles as they attend a gathering to show support for the Houthi movement in Sanaa, Yemen December 19, 2018. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Armed Houthi followers carry their rifles as they attend a gathering to show support for the Houthi movement in Sanaa, Yemen December 19, 2018. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Yemeni officials have attributed soaring property prices in the Yemeni capital Sanaa to Houthi militias forcing a "demographic change" that includes settling their members coming from Saada, Amran and Hajjah.

Al-Thawra newspaper quoted local sources as saying that the rise in the prices is caused by a huge Houthi demand to settle militia members in Sanaa.

Houthi leaders are rushing to purchase properties and rent residential apartments, leading to higher rents and an increase in the price of land plots, the sources said.

Most of the members brought to Sanaa are from Saada, Amran, and Hajjah, they said.

As a result of the new changes, most residents in the capital are incapable of paying soaring rents amid a paralysis in the payment of their salaries in the past three years and a rise in the number of low-income families.

Further, sources revealed that Houthi official Ahmed Hamed endorsed YER1.8 billion (one dollar equals around YER50) to pay rents to his followers coming from Saada and settling across Sanaa and its suburbs.

They added that Hamed founded in 2016 a secret department, affiliated with the Supreme Political Council, to shelter the militants.

The department, which falls under his direct supervision, has a clear mission to pay the rents and purchase lands, houses and villas for Houthi officials close to the group’s leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.



Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Man in West Bank

A picture taken in the village of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah city shows the nearby Israeli Shilo settlement in the background, in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A picture taken in the village of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah city shows the nearby Israeli Shilo settlement in the background, in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
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Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Man in West Bank

A picture taken in the village of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah city shows the nearby Israeli Shilo settlement in the background, in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A picture taken in the village of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah city shows the nearby Israeli Shilo settlement in the background, in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Palestinian authorities said Israeli troops killed a 55-year-old man in the north of the occupied West Bank on Thursday -- an incident the Israeli army said involved a stabbing attack.

The Ramallah-based health ministry said the body in charge of coordination with Israel informed it that soldiers "shot and killed" the man in Rummanah, near Jenin, in the morning.

The Israeli military said separately that troops deployed in the village "neutralised" a man after he stabbed and "moderately injured" a soldier, AFP reported.

The army generally uses the term "neutralised" after killing someone.

Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has soared since the Hamas attack of October 2023.

A 12-year-old Palestinian boy died Thursday of wounds suffered during an army raid near the West Bank town of Nablus last week, the health ministry said.

Since October 7, 2023, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 951 Palestinians, including many militants, the ministry said.

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Over the same period, at least 35 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to Israeli figures.