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NGO Report Accuses Houthis of Violating Children Rights 66,000 Times

Boys carry a jerrycan filled with water from a cistern at a makeshift camp for displaced Yemenis in severe shortage of water in the northern Hajjah province, March 24, 2020. (AFP)
Boys carry a jerrycan filled with water from a cistern at a makeshift camp for displaced Yemenis in severe shortage of water in the northern Hajjah province, March 24, 2020. (AFP)
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NGO Report Accuses Houthis of Violating Children Rights 66,000 Times

Boys carry a jerrycan filled with water from a cistern at a makeshift camp for displaced Yemenis in severe shortage of water in the northern Hajjah province, March 24, 2020. (AFP)
Boys carry a jerrycan filled with water from a cistern at a makeshift camp for displaced Yemenis in severe shortage of water in the northern Hajjah province, March 24, 2020. (AFP)

A human rights report has revealed that Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen have committed almost 66,000 crimes against children since the conflict broke out in 2015.

The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms said the Houthis perpetrated 65,971 offenses against minors in nearly four years since they started monitoring the militias’ activities.

The crimes took place between Jan. 1, 2015 and Aug. 30, 2019.

The rights group documented 3,888 deaths among children in Houthi-related attacks on civilian areas. The deaths were documented in 17 different Yemeni governorates and included 79 infants.

According to the report, 656 children were killed in Houthi shelling, 291 in landmine explosions, 467 in direct shootings and 412 as a result of deprivation of medical provisions.

It also documented 12 executions Houthis carried out against minors. Another eight children were tortured to death in Houthi prisons.

Some 1,721 minors were killed on different battlefronts after being recruited by the militias and used as cannon fodder.

The Taiz province topped the list with 896 child soldiers being killed, followed by Hajjah with 398, Amran with 377, Hodeidah with 362, the interim capital Aden with 276, Houthi-held Sanaa with 258, Saada with 249 and Dhale with 203.

The rights group likewise said that children were being forcefully recruited to Houthi ranks, with about 12,341 underage fighters still in their ranks.

As for injuries, the report documented 5,357 cases in which minors incurred injuries in 19 different governorates.

They were mainly wounded as a result of sniper fire and landmine explosions.

At least 321 children were permanently disabled by Houthi arbitrary targeting of civilian areas.

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Arab World

Dozens of Gaza Communal Kitchens Shut as Supply Runs Out, Worsening Hunger 

An Israeli military vehicle patrols on the Israeli side of the Gaza border, May 7, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle patrols on the Israeli side of the Gaza border, May 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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Dozens of Gaza Communal Kitchens Shut as Supply Runs Out, Worsening Hunger 

An Israeli military vehicle patrols on the Israeli side of the Gaza border, May 7, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle patrols on the Israeli side of the Gaza border, May 7, 2025. (Reuters)

Dozens of community kitchens in Gaza shut their doors on Thursday due to a lack of supplies, closing off a lifeline used by hundreds of thousands of people in a further blow to efforts to combat growing hunger in the enclave. 

The move followed hours after the US-based World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity announced that it had run out of the ingredients necessary to provide much-needed free meals and had been prevented by Israel from bringing in aid. 

Amjad al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) in Gaza, told Reuters that most of the enclave's 170 community kitchens had shut down after running out of stock due to Israel's continued blockade on Gaza. 

Shawa said the decision by the WCK, announced late on Wednesday, and the closure of community kitchens on Thursday would cause a drop of between 400,000 to 500,000 free meals per day for the 2.3 million population. 

"Everyone in Gaza today is hungry. The world must act now to save the people here," said Shawa, speaking to Reuters by phone from Gaza. 

"The remaining kitchens will be closing soon. The hunger catastrophe is beyond words. People are losing their lone source of food," Shawa added. 

Those Gazans trying to cook independently meanwhile complain that flour still available on the market is contaminated. 

"The flour is full of mites and sand ... We sieve it three, four times, instead of once, so we can bake it," said Mohammad Abu Ayesh, a displaced father of nine from northern Gaza. 

'WE ARE HELPLESS' 

"We don't want to eat from it, but we feed the children, for the children. You can't tolerate its smell, cattle and animals would not eat it, we are forced to eat it against our will, we are helpless," he told Reuters. 

Israel has faced growing international pressure to lift an aid blockade that it imposed in March after the collapse of a US-backed ceasefire that had halted fighting for two months. 

Israel has accused agencies, including the United Nations, of allowing large quantities of aid to fall into the hands of Hamas fighters, who it accuses of seizing supplies intended for civilians and using them for their own forces. 

Hamas denies the allegation and accuses Israel of using starvation as a weapon against the population, most of whom have been displaced at least once during the 19-month-old conflict. 

Two weeks ago, most of the population relied on one and a half meals per day, but in the past few days that has dropped to one meal a day, and even that will lack meat, vegetables or the necessary healthy components, said Shawa. 

"The free meals are usually rice or lentils, that is now also at risk of being suspended within the next week. I am afraid that we may begin to witness deaths among elderly, vulnerable children, pregnant women, and the ill," said Shawa. 

Growing looting of community kitchens, stores of local merchants, and UN headquarters have prompted Hamas security forces to crack down on local gangs. Hamas executed at least six gang members last week, according to sources close to the group. 

UN humanitarian agency OCHA has said more than 2 million people - most of Gaza's population - face severe food shortages. Food has dried up in Gaza markets, and prices have risen beyond the means of the vast majority, especially those for flour, which has become scarce and sells at around $500 for a 25 kg (55 lb) sack, compared with $7 in the past.