'White Coat' Houthi Terrorism Frightens Sanaa

Yemeni tribal leader Yasser al-Awwadi
Yemeni tribal leader Yasser al-Awwadi
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'White Coat' Houthi Terrorism Frightens Sanaa

Yemeni tribal leader Yasser al-Awwadi
Yemeni tribal leader Yasser al-Awwadi

In Sanaa’s Dabwa slums, teams of Houthi health workers sporting outfits designed for those dealing with coronavirus patients fired rounds of bullets to intimidate residents into staying home.

The teams claimed they were pursuing a coronavirus patient who escaped quarantine after being diagnosed.

Residents in the Houthi-controlled areas said that the militia's raids a few days ago appeared to be "white terrorism" because armed men used clothes intended for medical personnel, and were terrorizing people instead of reassuring them.

Houthis have exploited the gravity of the coronavirus crisis to double levies and terrorize the public by displaying their military strength and manipulating virus data. This has left Sanaa residents in dismay.

Sources suggest that raising funds in Ramadan is the most prominent reason for the Houthis refusing to acknowledge the number of confirmed coronavirus cases.

For Houthis, Islam’s holy month of fasting, Ramadan, is a month focused on collecting levies on which militias and their supervisors depend to cover their expenses, movements, and salaries. Houthi gunmen are using money from collected zakat and annual taxes to fund their war effort.

In other news, the last few days witnessed rage spurring among tribesmen in Al Bayda' Governorate after Houthis gunned down a female in al-Tafa district.

Hundreds of armed tribesmen heeded the call of al-Tafa district tribal leader, Yasser al-Awwadi, who demanded retaliation for the blood spilled.

Houthi militias, for their part, refused to respond to the demands of the tribes to hand over the perpetrators, withdraw the group's supervisors from the province, and return the lootings. On that case, several mediation attempts failed to contain the situation, including Omani mediation.

Local sources based in the governorates of Sanaa, Dhamar and Amran told Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi militia leaders received orders to deploy more recruits to Al-Bayda governorate.



Israeli Airstrike Targets Hezbollah Weapons Facility in Syria

This picture shows a crater caused by an Israeli strike on the road leading to Syria's Jousieh border crossing with Lebanon on October 28, 2024. (AFP)
This picture shows a crater caused by an Israeli strike on the road leading to Syria's Jousieh border crossing with Lebanon on October 28, 2024. (AFP)
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Israeli Airstrike Targets Hezbollah Weapons Facility in Syria

This picture shows a crater caused by an Israeli strike on the road leading to Syria's Jousieh border crossing with Lebanon on October 28, 2024. (AFP)
This picture shows a crater caused by an Israeli strike on the road leading to Syria's Jousieh border crossing with Lebanon on October 28, 2024. (AFP)

The Israeli military said it conducted an airstrike on a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in Syria on Tuesday.

The military said the strike targeted the facility run by Hezbollah’s munitions unit in the Syrian town of al-Qusayr, near the border with Lebanon. It said Hezbollah had recently expanded its facilities in the area to step up weapons smuggling into Lebanon from Syria.

The strikes hit an industrial zone in al-Qusayr, according to Syrian state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a conflict-monitoring group. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria over recent years, primarily targeting government-controlled areas, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses these operations. The strikes often target Syrian forces or Iranian-backed groups.

On Monday, an Israeli airstrike struck near the Sayida Zeinab suburb, south of Damascus, an area where Iran-backed groups are active. The Israeli military claimed responsibility for killing the head of Hezbollah’s military branch in Syria, whom it identified as Mahmoud Mohammed Shaheen.

For the past month, Israel has been carrying out an escalated bombardment campaign in Lebanon, aiming to cripple the Hezbollah armed group, which is allied with Syria and Iran. Israel has also launched ground incursions just across the Israel-Lebanon border, saying it aims to put an end to a year of Hezbollah rocket fire into northern Israel.