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Yemen’s Houthis Accused of Violating Stockholm Agreement

FILE PHOTO - Ships are seen at the Hodeidah port, Yemen May 14, 2019. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad
FILE PHOTO - Ships are seen at the Hodeidah port, Yemen May 14, 2019. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad
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Yemen’s Houthis Accused of Violating Stockholm Agreement

FILE PHOTO - Ships are seen at the Hodeidah port, Yemen May 14, 2019. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad
FILE PHOTO - Ships are seen at the Hodeidah port, Yemen May 14, 2019. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad

A report released by the Yemeni Joint Forces operating on Yemen’s west coast accused Houthi militias of committing over 13,000 violations against the Hodeidah ceasefire, also known as the Stockholm Agreement.

Waddah Al-Dubeish, a spokesman for the Yemeni Joint Forces in the west coast, said that chances of reaching a political settlement “were aborted.”

Dubeish blamed Houthis for sabotaging the Agreement which was signed in Sweden last December.

He also lambasted the international silence Houthi violations were met with, and said that it was complicit in the deadly crimes that killed finding a peaceful solution.

According to data collected by the west coast operations taskforce, violations took place in different areas.

Dubeish stated that at least 1,567 violations were large enough to constitute full-fledged acts of war. These violations took place mostly in the Durayhimi, Hays and Tuhayta districts, all of which belong to the Hodeidah governorate.

These violations have resulted in hundreds of deaths of women, children and the elderly. Hundreds of others were severely injured.

According to the report, the militias partially and totally destroyed 446 homes, mosques and farms in Hodeidah. Houthis did not only kill people, but also animals and trees.

The insurgents have also exploited the calm ensured by the Stockholm Agreement to detain and kill anti-coup activists in Hodeidah.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.