GPC Leaders Fear Return of Targeting, Assassinations by Houthis in Sanaa

Supporters of the Houthi movement shout slogans as they attend a rally to mark the 4th anniversary of the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen's war in Sanaa, Yemen, March 26 (Reuters file photo)
Supporters of the Houthi movement shout slogans as they attend a rally to mark the 4th anniversary of the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen's war in Sanaa, Yemen, March 26 (Reuters file photo)
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GPC Leaders Fear Return of Targeting, Assassinations by Houthis in Sanaa

Supporters of the Houthi movement shout slogans as they attend a rally to mark the 4th anniversary of the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen's war in Sanaa, Yemen, March 26 (Reuters file photo)
Supporters of the Houthi movement shout slogans as they attend a rally to mark the 4th anniversary of the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen's war in Sanaa, Yemen, March 26 (Reuters file photo)

Today, leaders of Yemen’s General People's Congress (GPC) are fearing for their lives after their supposed ally, the Houthi militia, have ordered its affiliated media outlets to scale up attacks against GPC chairman Sadeq Amin Abu Rass.

GPC leaders fear that the falling-out with Houthis will escalate to a campaign of assassinations, arrests and raids that targets them.

It is worth noting that it was Houthis had appointed Rass as head of the GPC after killing the party’s founder and the war-torn country’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, in December 2017.

GPC sources in the Houthi-run Yemeni capital, Sanaa, have pointed out that the quarrel between the Iran-backed militia and their party’s leaders can be traced back to the former marginalizing and pursuing the later.

The latest example of Houthi targeting of GPC leaders was their exiling of Rass during a joint meeting between the GPC and the militia in Sanaa a few days ago.

“Senior Houthi leaders have directed the militia’s affiliated media platforms to attack Rass and the GPC against the background of their recent opposition to Tariq Saleh, the nephew of the country’s late president, forming a politburo for his forces near Yemen’s west coast,” Sanaa-based sources who requested anonymity told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Houthi leaders have phoned several top GPC commanders to inform them that the militia now considers them and Rass as “hypocrites,” an accusation the Iran-aligned militia usually levels against opponents it plans to remove from the picture.

According to the sources, GPC leaders who received the calls included Yahia al-Rai and Mohammed Hussein al-Adeirous.

More so, sources warned that Houthis plan to replace Rass with Hussein Hazib, a veteran Houthi politician who served as the group’s education minister, as head of the GPC.

Hazib is known for sharing close ties with Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi.

Sources have stressed that Houthis have been actively imposing restrictions to limit the GPC’s influence and activities in Sanaa.

The GPC cannot as much as organize a simple event without first getting permission from Houthis.



Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
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Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo

Thousands of Syrian refugees are set to return from Lebanon this week under the first, UN-backed plan providing financial incentives, after Syria's new rulers said all citizens were welcome home despite deep war damage and security concerns.

Returning Syrians will be provided with $100 each in Lebanon and $400 per family upon arrival in Syria, Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said. Transport is also covered and fees have been waived by border authorities, she said.

"I think it's a good and important start. We have discussed and are coordinating this with our Syrian counterparts and I think the numbers will increase in the coming weeks," Sayed told Reuters. A Syrian interior ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

More than 6 million Syrians fled as refugees after conflict broke out in Syria in 2011, with most heading to Türkiye, Lebanon and Jordan. Lebanon has the highest concentration of refugees per capita in the world, hosting about 1.5 million Syrians among a population of about 4 million Lebanese.

Some 11,000 have registered to return from Lebanon in the first week, and the government targets between 200,000 and 400,000 returns this year under the plan, Sayed said.

The Lebanese government is focused on informal tented settlements in the country, where some 200,000 refugees live, she added, and may provide Syrian breadwinners who stay in Lebanon with work permits for sectors such as agriculture and construction if their families return to Syria.

UN agencies previously viewed Syria as unsafe for large-scale returns due to uncertainty over security and persecution by the government of Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled in December.

That has changed.

Since taking over, the new Syrian government has said all Syrians are welcome home. A UN survey from earlier this year showed nearly 30% of refugees living in Middle Eastern countries wanted to go back, up from 2% when Assad was in power.

"While the situation in Syria continues to rapidly evolve, (UN refugee agency) UNHCR considers the current context a positive opportunity for larger numbers of Syrian refugees to return home, or to begin considering return in a realistic and durable way," Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon, told Reuters.

As of the end of June 2025, UNHCR estimated that over 628,000 Syrians had crossed back to Syria via neighboring countries since 8 December 2024, including 191,000 via Lebanon.