'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.



Israel Demolishes Seven Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem

A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Israel Demolishes Seven Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem

A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)

Municipal workers began demolishing seven homes in occupied east Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood on Tuesday, Palestinian residents and the municipality said, after an Israeli court called their construction illegal.

"This morning the Jerusalem Municipality, with a security escort from the Israel police, began its enforcement against illegal buildings in the Al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan," Jerusalem's Israeli-controlled city hall said in a statement.

Activist Fakhri Abu Diab, one of those affected by the demolition, confirmed that "at least seven homes have been demolished, and the operation is ongoing".

He said that both houses and apartments were affected.

"They demolished my home, which I had renovated after it was previously demolished earlier this year, as well as my son's house, Haitham Ayed's family home, and four homes belonging to the Al-Ruwaidi family," Abu Diab told AFP.

He said around "40 people, including children, were affected by the demolitions in the neighborhood, leaving them homeless".

An AFP photographer saw at least four bulldozers operating on Tuesday at demolition sites in the neighborhood under tight Israeli police supervision.

In a statement, Jerusalem city hall pointed to court orders that call for the demolition of the buildings due to zoning laws that make them illegal.

However, Palestinian residents and activists accuse the municipality of concealing its true intentions.

"The buildings, like most of the buildings in the neighborhood, are located on an area that is a green designation, that is, an open public area and where there is no possibility for zoning," the municipality said, adding that the area would become a green zone instead.

Abu Diab said the true aim of the demolitions was "to reduce the percentage of Arabs and alter the demographic composition of Jerusalem in favor of (Israeli) settlers", connecting them to west Jerusalem.

Israel "is above international law, has escaped accountability, and is exploiting global focus on the wars in Gaza and Lebanon and the US elections", he said.

Israel occupied east Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.

Some 230,000 Israeli settlers live in east Jerusalem, according to the United Nations. Another 3,000 live in Palestinian neighborhoods within east Jerusalem's boundaries, according to Israeli rights organization Peace Now.