Yemeni Government Accuses STC of Impeding Its Return to Aden

Cars drive on a road linking two neighborhoods of Aden, Yemen August 10, 2019. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman/File Photo
Cars drive on a road linking two neighborhoods of Aden, Yemen August 10, 2019. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman/File Photo
TT
20

Yemeni Government Accuses STC of Impeding Its Return to Aden

Cars drive on a road linking two neighborhoods of Aden, Yemen August 10, 2019. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman/File Photo
Cars drive on a road linking two neighborhoods of Aden, Yemen August 10, 2019. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman/File Photo

The Yemeni internationally recognized government held the Southern Transitional Council (STC) responsible for the delay in its return to the interim capital, Aden.

Pro-STC forces were deployed to impede the return of government officials to Aden, the government said in a statement, adding that the move indicates a lack of responsibility towards implementing the Riyadh Agreement.

The statement stressed that this behavior overlooks the difficult conditions lived by Yemenis who are suffering a lack of services since the events of August, noting that the suffering of Yemenis in Aden has been exacerbated by recent flash floods that drowned the city.

Published by the state-owned Saba news agency, the statement said that impeding the government’s return goes beyond thwarting efforts to implement the Riyadh Agreement and disrupting the work of state institutions.

According to the statement, it also worsens the catastrophe that struck Aden at a time the city needs all efforts to be joined in alleviating the suffering of citizens and working to repair public and private property destroyed by the floods.

"As the government issues this clarification to local and international public opinion, it holds the STC responsible for this reckless behavior and its consequences that effect Aden and the Yemeni people in general,” the statement said.

The government called on all Yemeni components to support the legitimate government headed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and to stear clear from pursuing personal interests and turning attention to the ethical, national and historical responsibility and to the interests and concerns of the Yemeni people.



Hamas Armed Wing Says It Lost Contact with Group Holding Israeli-US Hostage Alexander

Smoke billows after an Israeli strike on Gaza. (Reuters)
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike on Gaza. (Reuters)
TT
20

Hamas Armed Wing Says It Lost Contact with Group Holding Israeli-US Hostage Alexander

Smoke billows after an Israeli strike on Gaza. (Reuters)
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike on Gaza. (Reuters)

The armed wing of Hamas said on Tuesday it had lost contact with a group of fighters holding Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander in the Gaza Strip.

Abu Ubaida, the armed wing's spokesperson, said on the Telegram that it lost contact after the Israeli army attacked the place where the fighters were holding Alexander, who is a New Jersey native and a 21-year-old soldier in the Israeli army.

Abu Ubaida did not say where in Gaza Alexander was purportedly held. The armed wing later released a video warning hostages families that their "children will return in black coffins with their bodies torn apart from shrapnel from your army".

Hamas has previously blamed Israel for the deaths of hostages held in Gaza, including as a direct result of military operations, while also acknowledging on at least one occasion that a hostage was killed by a guard. It said the guard had acted against instructions.

There was no immediate response from the Israeli military to a request for comment on the Hamas statement about Alexander.

President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters at the White House in March that gaining the release of Alexander, believed to be the last living American hostage held by Hamas in Gaza, was a "top priority for us".

The Tikva Forum, a group representing some family members of those held in Gaza, had said earlier on Tuesday that Alexander was among up to 10 hostages who could be released by Hamas if a new ceasefire was reached, citing a conversation a day earlier between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the mother of another hostage. There was no immediate comment on that from Netanyahu's office.

On Saturday Hamas released a video purportedly showing Alexander, who has been held in Gaza since he was captured by Palestinian gunmen on October 7, 2023.

The release of Alexander was at the center of earlier talks held between Hamas leaders and US hostage negotiator Adam Boehler last month.

Hamas released 38 hostages under a ceasefire that began on January 19. In March, Israel's military resumed its ground and aerial offensive on Gaza, abandoning the ceasefire after Hamas rejected proposals to extend the truce without ending the war.

Israeli officials say that offensive will continue until the remaining 59 hostages are freed and Gaza is demilitarized. Hamas insists it will free hostages only as part of a deal to end the war and has rejected demands to lay down its arms.