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UN Assistant Secretary-General Criticizes Houthi Restrictions on Humanitarian Aid

With money received through the UNICEF emergency cash transfer project, a family from Amran Governorate in Yemen shares lunch. (UNICEF)
With money received through the UNICEF emergency cash transfer project, a family from Amran Governorate in Yemen shares lunch. (UNICEF)
    New York, Sanaa - Asharq Al-Awsat
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UN Assistant Secretary-General Criticizes Houthi Restrictions on Humanitarian Aid

With money received through the UNICEF emergency cash transfer project, a family from Amran Governorate in Yemen shares lunch. (UNICEF)
With money received through the UNICEF emergency cash transfer project, a family from Amran Governorate in Yemen shares lunch. (UNICEF)

The United Nations has once more accused Houthi militias of hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid to areas they control in Yemen.

Ursula Mueller, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, told the Security Council that despite recent limited improvements, Houthis continue to enforce a growing number of restrictive regulations on humanitarian action.

The insurgents “are still blocking or delaying half of all NGO projects in areas under their control,” Mueller said.

The UN official explained that although UN partners are still able to deliver aid, they need to go through "constant engagement at all levels," often resulting in unacceptable delays for people who need help.

Mueller said Houthis continue their campaign to coerce UN humanitarian partners into working under conditions that would contradict humanitarian principles and almost certainly result in loss of funding and closure of programs.

The UN accusations angered Houthi leaders, who claimed that the UN and their partners should be blamed for the obstruction of humanitarian aid.

Member of the Yemeni Supreme Political Council Mohammad Ali al-Houthi wrote on his Twitter account Saturday that international organizations are manipulating donor funds and not allocating them to serve citizens.

Another Houthi leader, Abdel Mohsen Taous, claimed the militia group possesses documents that prove the UN accusations were false, saying the Houthis would be compelled to reveal them.

Some 250 humanitarian partners are working with the UN to assist more than 13 million people across the country.

The Yemeni government has repeatedly called on the international community and humanitarian relief groups to weigh in and place pressure on Houthis so that they stop hindering the delivery of aid in Yemen.

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Arab World

IMF Says Lebanon Needs Key Reforms for Program

People walk along the Corniche Al-Manara seafront promenade on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea as the sun sets in Beirut, Lebanon, 30 September 2026. (EPA)
People walk along the Corniche Al-Manara seafront promenade on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea as the sun sets in Beirut, Lebanon, 30 September 2026. (EPA)
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IMF Says Lebanon Needs Key Reforms for Program

People walk along the Corniche Al-Manara seafront promenade on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea as the sun sets in Beirut, Lebanon, 30 September 2026. (EPA)
People walk along the Corniche Al-Manara seafront promenade on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea as the sun sets in Beirut, Lebanon, 30 September 2026. (EPA)

Lebanon must push through a number of key economic and banking sector reforms to secure a new International Monetary Fund program, the Fund said on Thursday.

"It will require continued progress on key reforms, including the entry into force of the bank resolution ‌law, and appropriate ‌financial gap laws ‌consistent ⁠with international standards," IMF ⁠spokesperson Julie Kozack told reporters during a press conference.

She added a 2027 budget and medium-term fiscal framework that were "consistent with debt sustainability for the country" were also ⁠required.

Lebanon first signed a ‌preliminary agreement ‌with the IMF in April 2022, more ‌than two years after its ‌financial system imploded following decades of profligate spending and corruption in the ruling elite.

It recently passed a new ‌banking restructuring law which was welcomed by the IMF, but ⁠this ⁠week Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun quietly referred that law to the country’s constitutional council, triggering a review.

The move has sparked concerns among reformists in Lebanon that the country is backtracking on the key piece of legislation and potentially putting its IMF support hopes at risk.

Arab World

Lebanon Army Says Seized 245 Kg of TNT at Syria Border

An army unit seized approximately 245 kg of TNT. (Lebanese Army on X)
An army unit seized approximately 245 kg of TNT. (Lebanese Army on X)
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Lebanon Army Says Seized 245 Kg of TNT at Syria Border

An army unit seized approximately 245 kg of TNT. (Lebanese Army on X)
An army unit seized approximately 245 kg of TNT. (Lebanese Army on X)

The Lebanese army announced on Thursday that it had seized nearly 250 kilograms (around 550 pounds) of explosives being transported from neighboring Syria into Lebanon, though it was unable to apprehend the smugglers.

"An army unit seized approximately 245 kg of TNT, four explosive devices, eight detonators and electrical wiring for the detonators", which were being "smuggled from Syrian territory into Lebanese territory", the army said in a statement.

"The smugglers fled back toward Syria as soon as an army patrol arrived at the scene," it added.

Lebanon and Syria share a 330-kilometer (205-mile) border known for being porous.

Since the fall of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, both Lebanon and Syria have been working to stamp out overland smuggling along their shared border -- including the trafficking of weapons and captagon.

Damascus regularly announces the interception of arms shipments destined for Lebanon on behalf of Hezbollah, an organization that denies any presence or activity in Syrian territory.

Arab World

UN Worried about Impact of Latest Lebanon War on Agriculture

Deputy Director-General of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Beth Bechdol speaks during an interview with AFP in Beirut on October 1, 2026. (AFP)
Deputy Director-General of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Beth Bechdol speaks during an interview with AFP in Beirut on October 1, 2026. (AFP)
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UN Worried about Impact of Latest Lebanon War on Agriculture

Deputy Director-General of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Beth Bechdol speaks during an interview with AFP in Beirut on October 1, 2026. (AFP)
Deputy Director-General of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Beth Bechdol speaks during an interview with AFP in Beirut on October 1, 2026. (AFP)

The deputy director-general of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization told AFP on Thursday that she was "deeply concerned" about the impact of the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict on agriculture in south Lebanon.

The latest war "puts additional pressure on farmers and rural communities that, frankly, were already facing considerable hardships", said the FAO's Beth Bechdol.

"We're deeply concerned" about the situation in south Lebanon, where agriculture is "at the heart" of livelihoods, she said in an interview in Beirut.

"It is our best assessment that 56,000 hectares, which is more than 22 percent of Lebanon's agricultural land, has been reported as affected or damaged," including burned or physically damaged, she said.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah group drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March by attacking Israel, which responded with massive airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people.

The conflict came after hostilities that erupted in 2023 and all-out war the following year.

While the latest violence has decreased since a June ceasefire, hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced, mainly from the south, and Israel maintains troops in a self-declared "security zone" running around 10 kilometers (six miles) deep inside Lebanon along the border.

Israeli forces have been carrying out widespread demolitions affecting villages and farmland.

"Farmers and their families are no longer able to be connected to their agricultural land," Bechdol said, noting that the conflict has also "disrupted markets and reduced access" to essentials for food production including fertilizers.

In June, a UN-backed assessment from Lebanese authorities estimated agricultural production losses in south Lebanon this year had reached at least $530 million.

Bechdol also expressed concern about potential contamination and soil damage in south Lebanon due to unexploded ordnance and residues from military operations.

She said she had held discussions in recent days on the possibility of the FAO getting involved in partnerships on de-mining work in south Lebanon.

She also said she was "very concerned about just general food security levels" in Lebanon.

In April, a UN-backed report said more than 1.2 million people in Lebanon were expected to face acute hunger in the following months due to the latest war.

This week, UNICEF said four in five households in Lebanon "are struggling to afford basic necessities as conflict compounds years of economic crisis".