Yemen Makes ‘Concrete Progress’ in Forming New Govt.

A general view of the interim Yemeni capital Aden in 2018. (Reuters)
A general view of the interim Yemeni capital Aden in 2018. (Reuters)
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Yemen Makes ‘Concrete Progress’ in Forming New Govt.

A general view of the interim Yemeni capital Aden in 2018. (Reuters)
A general view of the interim Yemeni capital Aden in 2018. (Reuters)

“Concrete progress” has been achieved in recent days over the formation of a new Yemen government after parties agreed on the distribution of shares, revealed Western and Yemeni sources on Sunday.

“Yemeni political parties reached an agreement concerning the division of ministerial portfolios between the North and South,” the sources said.

In recent days, Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi had stressed the need to expedite the process of implementing the Riyadh Agreement, which is required to unite Yemeni parties and to confront the Iran-backed Houthi militias.

Government spokesman Rajeh Badi told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Consultations are going in the right direction towards reaching understandings between the various participating parties.”

The spokesman added that understandings are about to be reached between northern and southern Yemen on the distribution of ministerial portfolios based on the mechanism to accelerate the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement.

“All parties are keen on implementing the Agreement, and everyone is aware of the gravity of the economic and military situation in the country,” Badi said.

Signed between the legitimate government and the Southern Transitional Council in August, the mechanism to accelerate the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement calls for forming a new 24-minister government. Portfolios will be distributed equally between North and South Yemen.

Badi said, “Obstacles that some parties considered immense, were not that grave,” praising the support of Saudi Arabia to facilitate those talks.

“Our Saudi brothers are keen on removing any obstacle hindering Yemeni stability and they support easing the suffering of the Yemeni people at the hands of the Houthis,” he said.

Yemeni media had in recent hours published leaks related to the distribution of shares in the new government. However, no official sources confirmed those reports.

Meanwhile, British Ambassador to Yemen Michael Aron told Asharq Al-Awsat that all signs indicate that a breakthrough is about to be reached in the formation of a new cabinet.

He said that “good news” may be on the way.



Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
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Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli airstrikes on Sunday killed at least 29 Palestinians, including six children near a water distribution point.

The attacks came with apparent deadlock in a week of indirect talks in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas for a ceasefire in the territory.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Gaza City was hit by several strikes overnight and in the early morning, killing eight, "including women and children" and wounding others.

An Israeli airstrike hit a family home near the Nuseirat refugee camp, south of Gaza City, resulting in "10 martyrs and several injured", Bassal said.

In central Gaza, six children were among eight people killed when a drone "hit a potable water distribution point in an area for displaced people" in the Nuseirat camp, he added.

Several other people were wounded, he said.

In the territory's south, three people were killed when Israeli jets hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the coastal Al-Mawasi area, according to the civil defense spokesman.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has recently intensified its operations across Gaza, more than 21 months into the war triggered by Hamas's October 2023 attack.

On Saturday, the military said fighter jets had hit more than 35 "Hamas terror targets" around Beit Hanun in northern Gaza.

The vast majority of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions in the territory.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency and other parties.