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Yemeni Govt Links Hodeidah Cooperation to Guha’s Removal

Lieutenant General (retired) Abhijit Guha, Asharq Al-Awsat
Lieutenant General (retired) Abhijit Guha, Asharq Al-Awsat
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Yemeni Govt Links Hodeidah Cooperation to Guha’s Removal

Lieutenant General (retired) Abhijit Guha, Asharq Al-Awsat
Lieutenant General (retired) Abhijit Guha, Asharq Al-Awsat

The Yemeni internationally recognized government has officially suspended meetings with the UN Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA), saying it will resume attending talks only when the head of the mission is changed.

Retired Lieutenant General Abhijit Guha is the chair of the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) and the head of UNMHA. He succeeded Lt. Gen Michael Anker Lollesgaard in 2019.

UNMHA is focused on working to achieve its personal interests, member of the government’s RCC team, Col. Khaled al-Kawkabani, told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“The UN mission in Hodeidah is working for itself and does not work within the agreed framework, and its members did not comply with what we requested regarding the killing of Colonel al-Sulayhi in an area supposedly secured by UNMHA,” al-Kawkabani said.

He also noted that UNMHA did not cooperate with the request to relocate the mission’s headquarters.

The mission, in October 2019, established five observation posts to monitor a ceasefire which was violated by Houthi militias.

“The mission's presence inside the city of Hodeidah places it under the control of the Houthis,” al-Kawkabani contended.

“Guha and his team do not think about the success of the mission as much as they think about obeying and satisfying Houthis so that they can continue their work and receive salaries,” he explained.

The government delegate added that UNMHA, under Guha, has undermined the agreement and “wasted” Hodeidah.

Houthis in Hodeidah are not only committing violations under Guha’s supervision, but are also seeking to occupy new lands.

Al-Kawkabani also accused Guha of implementing the Houthi agenda and said that it was the reason behind the Yemeni Foreign Ministry requesting his removal.

“He (Guha) has been compromised by the Houthis,” he emphasized.

According to the Yemeni Foreign Ministry, violations of the ceasefire committed by Houthi militias have escalated significantly, reaching 7,378 violations during July 2020 alone.

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‘War Ruined Me’: Lebanon’s Farmers Mourn Lost Season

This photo shows burnt agricultural fields that were hit during Israeli shelling in the southern Lebanese area of Marjeyoun, on October 30, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
This photo shows burnt agricultural fields that were hit during Israeli shelling in the southern Lebanese area of Marjeyoun, on October 30, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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‘War Ruined Me’: Lebanon’s Farmers Mourn Lost Season

This photo shows burnt agricultural fields that were hit during Israeli shelling in the southern Lebanese area of Marjeyoun, on October 30, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
This photo shows burnt agricultural fields that were hit during Israeli shelling in the southern Lebanese area of Marjeyoun, on October 30, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

Lebanese farmer Abu Taleb briefly returned to his orchard last month to salvage an avocado harvest but ran away empty handed as soon as Israeli air raids began.

"The war broke out just before the first harvest season," said Abu Taleb, displaced from the village of Tayr Debba near the southern city Tyre.

"When I went back in mid-October, it was deserted... it was scary," said the father of two, who is now sheltering in Tripoli more than 160 kilometers to the north and asked to be identified by a pseudonym because of security concerns.

Abu Taleb said his harvesting attempt was interrupted by an Israeli raid on the neighboring town of Markaba.

He was forced back to Tripoli without the avocados he usually exports every year.

Agricultural regions in Lebanon have been caught in the crossfire since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah ramped up in October last year, a full-scale war breaking out on September 23.

The UN's agriculture agency, FAO, said more than 1,909 hectares of farmland in south Lebanon had been damaged or left unharvested between October last year and September 28.

The conflict has also displaced more than half a million people, including farmers who abandoned their crops just when they were ready to harvest.

Hani Saad had to abandon 120 hectares of farmland in the southern region of Nabatiyeh, which is rich in citrus and avocado plantations.

"If the ceasefire takes place within a month, I can save the harvest, otherwise, the whole season is ruined," said Saad who has been displaced to the coastal city of Jounieh, north of Beirut.

When an Israeli strike sparked a fire in one of Saad's orchards, he had to pay out of his own pocket for the fuel of the fire engine that extinguished the blaze.

His employees, meanwhile, have fled. Of 32 workers, 28 have left, mainly to neighboring Syria.

- 'Worst phase' -

Israeli strikes have put at least two land crossings with Syria out of service, blocking a key export route for produce and crops.

Airlines have suspended flights to Lebanon as insurance costs soar.

This has dealt a deadly blow to agricultural exports, most of which are destined for Gulf Arab states.

Fruit exporter Chadi Kaadan said exports to the Gulf have dropped by more than 50 percent.

The supply surplus in the local market has caused prices to plummet at home, he added.

"In the end, it is the farmer who loses," said Saad who used to earn $5,000 a day before the war started. Today, he barely manages $300.

While avocados can stay on the tree for months, they are starting to run out of water following Israeli strikes on irrigation channels, Saad said.

Citrus fruits and cherimoyas have already started to fall.

"The war has ruined me. I spend my time in front of the TV waiting for a ceasefire so I can return to my livelihood," Saad told AFP.

Gaby Hage, a resident of the Christian town of Rmeish, on the border with Israel, is one of the few farmers who decided to stay in south Lebanon.

He has only been able to harvest 100 of his 350 olive trees, which were left untended for a year because of cross-border strikes.

"I took advantage of a slight lull in the fighting to pick what I could," he told AFP.

Hage said agriculture was a lifeline for the inhabitants of his town, which has been cut off by the war.

Ibrahim Tarchichi, president of the farmers' union in the Bekaa Valley, which was hit hard by the strikes, believes that agriculture in Lebanon is going through the "worst phase" of its recent history.

"I have experienced four wars, it has never been this serious," he said.