After Losses in Marib, Houthis Sever Communication Lines between Sanaa, Govt Regions

Militants in Sanaa mourn a Houthi who was killed in Marib. (AFP)
Militants in Sanaa mourn a Houthi who was killed in Marib. (AFP)
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After Losses in Marib, Houthis Sever Communication Lines between Sanaa, Govt Regions

Militants in Sanaa mourn a Houthi who was killed in Marib. (AFP)
Militants in Sanaa mourn a Houthi who was killed in Marib. (AFP)

Battles in the Marib province, east of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, are continuing to exhaust the Iran-backed Houthi militias.

Fierce fighting continued on Saturday, especially in western and northwestern parts of the province. The national army, meanwhile, continues to make advances in the southwestern Taiz province.

The Houthis persist on ignoring international and United Nations calls for calm in Marib and demands for a ceasefire that would pave the way for peace talks.

The legitimate government has cast doubt on the sincerity of these calls after the militias escalated their attacks and the international community’s failure to take any action to deter them.

Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said: “The Houthi escalation demonstrates that its decision to go to war does not lie in its hands and that it is simply a proxy to carry out Iran’s expansionist agenda.”

He added that the Houthis are just an armed proxy of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and that they are being managed by Tehran’s so-called envoy in Sanaa. He accused the militias of harming Saudi Arabia and threatening international marine navigation.

Moreover, he noted that the Houthis escalated their attacks after the US administration of Joe Biden decided to revoke the militias’ terrorist designation.

This demonstrates that the militias do not believe in peace and their ideology is based on killing, making them unqualified to play a constructive role in peace, remarked Eryani.

The escalation demands that the international community blacklist the Houthis and provide serious support for the government in its efforts to end their coup and reclaim the Yemeni state, he urged.

As the minister voiced his plea, the Houthis severed communication lines connecting Sanaa, which is under their control, with government-held regions, including Marib.

Observers interpreted the move as retaliation to the militias’ losses on the ground and failure to advance in oil- and gas-rich Marib.

Local field sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Yemeni military, with air cover from the Saudi-led Arab coalition, repelled on Saturday new Houthi offensives in western and northwester Marib.

Military media reported that more than 83 militants were killed in the battles that lasted more than 35 hours.

A military spokesman said that the army’s strategy has succeeded in depleting Houthi forces.

In Taiz, the army liberated several hills in the southeastern front as the militias retreated from the area. The military has launched operations in Taiz, which has been besieged by the Houthis for years.



Netanyahu Aide Faces Indictment over Gaza Leak

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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Netanyahu Aide Faces Indictment over Gaza Leak

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces indictment on security charges pending a hearing, Israel's attorney general has said, for allegedly leaking top secret military information during Israel's war in Gaza.

Netanyahu's close adviser, Jonatan Urich, has denied any wrongdoing in the case, which legal authorities began investigating in late 2024.

Netanyahu has described probes against Urich and other aides as politically motivated and on Monday said that Urich had not harmed state security. Urich's attorneys said the charges were baseless and that their client's innocence would be proven beyond doubt, reported Reuters.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said in a statement late on Sunday that Urich and another aide had extracted secret information from the Israeli military and leaked it to German newspaper Bild.

Their intent, she said, was to shape public opinion of Netanyahu and influence the discourse about the slaying of six Israeli hostages by their Palestinian captors in Gaza in late August 2024.

The hostages' deaths sparked mass protests in Israel and outraged hostages' families, who accused Netanyahu of torpedoing ceasefire talks that had faltered in the preceding weeks for political reasons.

Netanyahu vehemently denies this. He has repeatedly said that Hamas was to blame for the talks collapsing, while the group has said it was Israel's fault no deal had been reached.

Four of the six slain hostages had been on the list of more than 30 captives that Hamas was set to free if a ceasefire had been reached, according to a defense official at the time.

The Bild article in question was published days after the hostages were found executed in a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza. It outlined Hamas' negotiation strategy in the indirect ceasefire talks and largely corresponded with Netanyahu's allegations against the militant group over the deadlock.

Bild said after the investigation was announced that it does not comment on its sources and that its article relied on authentic documents. The newspaper did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

A two-month ceasefire was reached in January this year and included the release of 38 hostages before Israel resumed attacks in Gaza. The sides are presently engaged in indirect negotiations in Doha, aimed at reaching another truce.

In his statement on Monday, Netanyahu said Baharav-Miara's announcement was "appalling" and that its timing raised serious questions.

Netanyahu's government has for months been seeking the dismissal of Baharav-Miara. The attorney general, appointed by the previous government, has sparred with Netanyahu's cabinet over the legality of some of its policies.