Yemeni Parties Denounce Int’l Inaction towards Houthi Violence

A girl plays at a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Marib, Yemen October 2, 2020. (Reuters)
A girl plays at a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Marib, Yemen October 2, 2020. (Reuters)
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Yemeni Parties Denounce Int’l Inaction towards Houthi Violence

A girl plays at a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Marib, Yemen October 2, 2020. (Reuters)
A girl plays at a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Marib, Yemen October 2, 2020. (Reuters)

Pro-government parties in Yemen’s National Alliance of Political Parties (NAPP) have denounced international inaction towards the violence of Iran-backed Houthi militias in the war-torn country.

The parties, in an official statement, urged the internationally recognized Yemeni government to undertake decisive action to end battles waged by Houthis in the oil rich Marib governorate. They called for supplying the army with all means necessary for securing victory and defeating coup militias.

Both Houthi violence in Marib, where millions of Yemenis have sought asylum, and against civilian targets in neighboring Saudi Arabia.

“Reckless Houthi escalation behind which the Iranian regime is standing confirms that these militias are persistent in their war on the Yemeni people and efforts to destabilize security and peace in the region,” the NAPP parties said in their statement, adding that Houthis are blocking international peace efforts.

The statement called for “solidarity with the army in Marib and other battlefronts,” and urged joining army ranks to counter Iranian aggression. It also demanded the government “provides all the support needed by the army and popular resistance to win the decisive battle against Houthis.”

Yemeni parties expressed their “surprise at the international community’s failure to act against the Houthi escalation in Marib, where they have attacked densely populated areas and IDP camps with missiles and drones.”

They also warned against the catastrophic humanitarian risks entailed should Houthis not cease hostilities that threaten the entire region’s stability and peace.

The parties said that the removal of Houthis from the US terror blacklist did not inspire the group to shift towards peace. Counter-actively, it emboldened the militia’s drive for violence against civilians.

Both the UN and its Security Council, according to the parties, must play their role in stopping the military escalation and terrorist attacks targeting Yemenis and pressure Iran-backed Houthi militias to submit to the decisions of international legitimacy.

The parties urged holding Houthis responsible for the repercussions of their criminal escalation against civilians.



Damascus Says Israel Arrested Civilians During Beit Jin Raid

Residents sit outside their house in the Beit Jin village, southern Syria, where Israeli troops made a pre-dawn raid, arresting several alleged members of Hamas, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP)
Residents sit outside their house in the Beit Jin village, southern Syria, where Israeli troops made a pre-dawn raid, arresting several alleged members of Hamas, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP)
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Damascus Says Israel Arrested Civilians During Beit Jin Raid

Residents sit outside their house in the Beit Jin village, southern Syria, where Israeli troops made a pre-dawn raid, arresting several alleged members of Hamas, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP)
Residents sit outside their house in the Beit Jin village, southern Syria, where Israeli troops made a pre-dawn raid, arresting several alleged members of Hamas, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP)

A source at the Syrian Interior Ministry denied Israeli claims that its forces had arrested Palestinian Hamas members during a raid on the southern village of Beit Jin in the early hours of Thursday.

The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the detainees were civilians and not affiliated with any party.

Saleh Daher, a resident of Beit Jin, told Asharq Al-Awsat the Israeli soldiers entered the village at 2:40 am on Thursday.

“We were awakened by the sound of gunfire,” he revealed. A unit of dozens of soldiers were raiding the village, while ten tanks were stationed at its entrance.

The forces surrounded the houses of the people they wanted to arrest, calling out their names on loudspeakers. They detained seven people, continued Daher.

One person, who is known in the village for having a mental disability, attempted to stop the soldiers, who shot and killed him, he said.

The soldiers left at 4:15 am after detaining the people they were after.

Daher said they were all Syrian natives of the village and used to be members of armed opposition groups that rose up against the Bashar al-Assad's ousted regime.

Sources revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat the names of the detainees: Amer al-Badawi, Mamoun al-Saadi, Ahmed al-Safadi, Mohammed al-Safadi, Hassan al-Safadi, Mohammed Badi Hamadeh and Ali Qassem Hamadeh.

Daher said he and his family had returned to Beit Jin in 2018 and that they never noticed any behavior by the detainees that they were working against Israel.

Israel had previously assassinated three residents of the village. They too were members of armed factions.

Moreover, Daher said he hasn’t noticed any activity by residents that indicate that they are members of or associated with Palestinian factions.

The Israeli army said it detained Hamas members during the Beit Jin raid and that they were planning attacks against it.

They have been taken to Israel for investigation. The army also said it discovered weapons in the area.

Syrian media confirmed the arrest of seven people and death of one person during the raid.

Since the fall of Assad’s government in early December, Israeli forces have moved into several areas in southern Syria and conducted hundreds of airstrikes throughout the country, destroying much of the assets of the Syrian army.

Tensions ticked up in early June after projectiles were fired from Syria towards Israel. Israel retaliated with its first strikes in nearly a month.

On June 8, Israel carried out a strike on the outskirts of Beit Jin on what it described as a Hamas member.

A resident of the village denied the claim, saying Israel targeted a youth called Anas Abboud and that he was a former member of a Syrian opposition armed group.