Houthis Bury Prisoners Tortured to Death

A picture released by Houthis showing a mass grave they dug to bury bodies in Dhamar a few days ago | Asharq Al-Awsat
A picture released by Houthis showing a mass grave they dug to bury bodies in Dhamar a few days ago | Asharq Al-Awsat
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Houthis Bury Prisoners Tortured to Death

A picture released by Houthis showing a mass grave they dug to bury bodies in Dhamar a few days ago | Asharq Al-Awsat
A picture released by Houthis showing a mass grave they dug to bury bodies in Dhamar a few days ago | Asharq Al-Awsat

Yemeni human rights activists accused Iran-backed Houthis of digging mass graves for dozens of civilians who had died under torture in militia prisons.

Defending themselves, Houthis said the bodies being buried belong to unidentified persons left in hospital morgues in areas under coup control.

A few days ago, Houthis admitted to burying 35 bodies in a mass grave in Dhamar Governorate, located 100 km south of Sanaa. This was a part of the group’s plan to bury more than 700 bodies over different stages in the governorates of Hodeidah, Sanaa, and Dhamar.

While Houthis are believed to empty morgues at hospitals to make room for the bodies of militants who died in battle, activists accused them of seeking to conceal the truth about brutal crimes committed against detainees.

Dozens of those detained in Houthi prisons are dying under gruesome torture, Yemeni activists said.

The Houthi-styled state news agency in Sanaa announced that the group has launched the fourth phase of a plan to bury unidentified corpses stored in hospital morgue freezers in Dhamar city.

Houthis are planning to put in the ground 715 corpses preserved in morgues at hospitals in areas under their control.

Coup media also reported on the fourth stage soon expanding to reach governorates and cities other than Dahmar.

Since the start of 2020, Houthis have managed to entomb 232 bodies over three stages carried out in Sanaa, Hodeidah, and Dahmar.

On March 9, coinciding with the outbreak of the coronavirus, Houthis launched the first phase of burying unidentified bodies.

Undersecretary of Human Rights Ministry Majed Fadael, commenting on the topic, did not rule out that those bodies belonged to detainees who died under torture in Houthi prisons.

“These bodies belong to kidnapped civilians who have been killed under torture and mutilated to the point where it is difficult to identify them, so the inability to identify them is the pretext for burying them," Fadael said.



Israeli Airstrikes Kill 33 Palestinians in Gaza

Mourners carry the bodies of Palestinian children killed in an overnight Israeli strike on a house, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, during a funeral at Al-Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, July 6, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Mourners carry the bodies of Palestinian children killed in an overnight Israeli strike on a house, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, during a funeral at Al-Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, July 6, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
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Israeli Airstrikes Kill 33 Palestinians in Gaza

Mourners carry the bodies of Palestinian children killed in an overnight Israeli strike on a house, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, during a funeral at Al-Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, July 6, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Mourners carry the bodies of Palestinian children killed in an overnight Israeli strike on a house, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, during a funeral at Al-Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, July 6, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 33 Palestinians in Gaza, hospital officials said on Sunday, as Israel's military said it has struck over 100 targets in the embattled enclave in the past day.

The fighting came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was preparing to fly to Washington for talks at the White House aimed at pushing forward ceasefire efforts.

US President Donald Trump has floated a plan for an initial 60-day ceasefire that would include a partial release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for an increase in humanitarian supplies allowed into Gaza. The proposed truce calls for talks on ending the 21-month war altogether.

Twenty people were killed and 25 wounded after Israeli strikes hit two houses in Gaza City, according to Mohammed Abu Selmia, the director of Shifa Hospital that services the area.

In southern Gaza, 13 Palestinians were killed by strikes in Muwasi, an area on Gaza's Mediterranean where many displaced people live in tents, officials at Nasser Hospital in neaby Khan Younis told The Associated Press. Five of the dead belonged to the same family according to the hospital.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the individual strikes, but said it struck 130 targets across the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours.

It said the strikes targeted Hamas command and control structures, storage facilities, weapons and launchers, and that they killed a number of militants in northern Gaza.

The strikes occur as efforts to reach a ceasefire deal appeared to gain momentum. Netanyahu’s office said his government will send a negotiating team to talks in Qatar on Sunday to conduct indirect talks, adding that Hamas was seeking “unacceptable” changes to the proposal.

The planned talks in Qatar comes ahead of Netanyahu's planned visit on Monday to Washington to meet Trump to discuss the deal. It is unclear if a deal will be reached ahead of Netanyahu's White House meeting.

Hamas has sought guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Previous negotiations have stalled over Hamas demands of guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war’s end, while Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting to ensure the militant group’s destruction.