عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Houthis Expel the Last of Yemeni Jews

A Yemeni Jewish family gathered in the capital Sanaa before it was overrun by Houthi militias in 2014 (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A Yemeni Jewish family gathered in the capital Sanaa before it was overrun by Houthi militias in 2014 (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
TT

Houthis Expel the Last of Yemeni Jews

A Yemeni Jewish family gathered in the capital Sanaa before it was overrun by Houthi militias in 2014 (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A Yemeni Jewish family gathered in the capital Sanaa before it was overrun by Houthi militias in 2014 (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Houthis have managed to deport the last of Yemen’s Jews by sending 13 members of three different families away from their homes in Sanaa. All that remains from the several–thousand-year-old community are four seniors, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Looking for a new place to call home, the exiled 13 are refusing to go to Israel and are waiting the UN refugee agency to transport them to any country that grants them asylum.

Their departure from Yemen came after withstanding years of pressure from Houthis and as part of a deal to free Levi Salem Marhabi, a Jew who was captured by the Iran-backed group’s intelligence around six years ago.

Houthis did not honor their own court’s ruling to release Marhabi and used his captivity as a bargaining chip to drive out whatever is left of the Jewish people in areas run by the militia.

So far, Houthis have succeeded in chasing Jews out of the governorates of Sanaa, Saada and Amran. The persecuted minority was moved out of their own country in three different batches.

“They gave us a choice between staying in the midst of harassment and keeping Salem a prisoner or leaving and having him released,” said one of those who were expelled.

“History will remember us as the last of Yemeni Jews who were still clinging to their homeland until the last moment,” they added.

“We had rejected many temptations time and time again, and refused to leave our homeland, but today we are forced.”

Marhabi, languishing in his prison cell in Sanaa, has suffered different kinds of torture and was eventually left partially paralyzed by a stroke.

Marhabi was arrested for aiding a Yemeni Jewish family in moving a very rare deerskin Torah scroll, claimed by some to be 800 years old, out of the war-torn country.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Israeli Army is Setting Up Rapid Response Unit on Border with Syria

Anti-government fighters ride military vehicles in the eastern part of Aleppo province, in Syria, on Sunday. (Aref Tammawi/AFP)
Anti-government fighters ride military vehicles in the eastern part of Aleppo province, in Syria, on Sunday. (Aref Tammawi/AFP)
TT
TT

Israeli Army is Setting Up Rapid Response Unit on Border with Syria

Anti-government fighters ride military vehicles in the eastern part of Aleppo province, in Syria, on Sunday. (Aref Tammawi/AFP)
Anti-government fighters ride military vehicles in the eastern part of Aleppo province, in Syria, on Sunday. (Aref Tammawi/AFP)

The Israeli military has announced the formation of a special rapid response unit in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights to fend off threats from Syria, when necessary.

Commander of the 210th Bashan Division Lieutenant Colonel Yair Palai said the unit would operate as an effective attack force capable to launch in seconds and prevent threats on Israel similar to the one Hamas launched on October 7, 2023.

“The Unit will be prepared 24 hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of events,” he said.

“In the case of any security incident, the Unit will strike the enemy mercilessly. There is no possibility of failure, because this unit depends on constant vigilance,” Palai said.

The unit, which is comprised of elite soldiers from reconnaissance units and special reserve units, will operate under the 210th Division.

Sources said the unit has fully mobilized and operated continuously over the past three months.

Its goal was initially to counter Iranian, Syrian, Yemeni, Iraqi or other militias that might operate from the Golan against Jewish settlements there.

But recent developments in Syria compelled the army to prepare for any additional threats.

Last week, Syrian army soldiers were killed in a major attack by opposition fighters led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, who swept into the city of Aleppo in the northwest, forcing the military to redeploy in the biggest challenge to President Bashar Assad in years.

On Tuesday, Haaretz said the Israeli military fears that amid the Syrian opposition assault and their taking over of military sites belonging to the Assad regime in the country, chemical weapons could fall into the wrong hands.

If such weapons fall into the hands of the opposition fighters or Iranian militias, Israel would have to act in a way that “may affect Syria and the entire Middle East,” according to Haaretz.

The report said that after the country's civil war, Assad tried to rebuild his chemical weapons production facilities, with most having been removed from Syria under an international agreement. But a substantial part of the chemical weapons project, particularly the knowledge accumulated over the years, still remains in Assad's hands.

Haaretz wrote that Israel has relayed messages to the Syrian regime via the Russians insisting that Assad assert his sovereignty and bar Iran from operating from within Syria.

“The army is monitoring with concern the surprise Syrian rebel offensive on Assad strongholds in Syria that began last week,” it said.

Also, intelligence officials believe that while the Syrian president's standing has been weakened, Iran, with Russia's support, is exploiting the chaos in order to send in tens of thousands of fighters from the armed militias that support it.

According to Haaretz, the army's current estimate is that there are 40,000 Iranian militia fighters in Syria.

In tandem with the ceasefire with Hezbollah, the Israeli army has been carrying out strikes almost daily on the border between Syria and Lebanon in order to thwart attempts to smuggle weaponry destined for Hezbollah.

Although to date there is no firm evidence that the Iranian forces plan to station themselves in Damascus, the newspaper said one Israeli diplomatic official involved in the discussions referred to this on Sunday as a known fact. “Iran has begun to send an influx of forces into Syria in an attempt to aid Assad and suppress the revolt,” he said.