Yemen Accuses Houthis of Abusing Palestinian Cause for Their War Effort

A fighter loyal to the Houthis seen in Sanaa, February 28, 2021. (AFP)
A fighter loyal to the Houthis seen in Sanaa, February 28, 2021. (AFP)
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Yemen Accuses Houthis of Abusing Palestinian Cause for Their War Effort

A fighter loyal to the Houthis seen in Sanaa, February 28, 2021. (AFP)
A fighter loyal to the Houthis seen in Sanaa, February 28, 2021. (AFP)

The Yemeni government accused the Iran-backed Houthi militias of abusing the Palestinian cause to recruit more members to fight the Yemeni people and collect funds for their war effort.

Information Minister Moammar al-Eyrani warned the people against “falling victim to the Houthis’ exploitation and misinformation.”

In official statements, he said the Houthis were abusing the “Palestinian cause and tragedy of the Palestinian people in occupied territories to make political and financial gains, prolong the war in Yemen and continue to kill Yemenis.”

He added that the Houthis were trying win over the sympathy of the Yemenis over the developments in Jerusalem and the occupied territories and the suffering of the Palestinians to organize fundraisers to finance their war effort and recruit more members.

The terrorist Houthis actions against the legitimate state are no different than the practices of Israeli occupiers of Palestinian territories, he continued.

He said the Houthis and Israelis are similar in their attacks against residential areas, killing of civilians, including women and children in cold blood, destruction of homes and crackdown on religious freedoms.

The Houthis have in recent days intensified their recruitment campaigns, mainly targeting the youths, in ten Yemeni provinces under their control under the pretext of “fighting for Palestine”. In reality, the youths will be recruited to their war effort in the Marib province and other fronts.

Residents in the Ibb province confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthis have carried out such campaigns in several villages under the false slogan of “championing the Palestinian cause and liberating the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Many locals, however, did not fall for the lies and mocked the Houthis for their ridiculous slogan and false claims, added the residents.

The militias often exploit major causes in the Arab world to manipulate and deceive the Yemenis and divert their attention from the real crimes and violations they are committing everyday in the war-torn country.

For years, the Houthis have misled their followers in Saada and other regions into believing that they are fighting Israel.



UN: Israel's War Plans Threaten 'Continued Existence' of Palestinians in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the damage at a school used as a shelter by displaced residents that was hit twice by Israeli army strikes on Tuesday, killing more than 25 people, in Bureij, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, May 7, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians inspect the damage at a school used as a shelter by displaced residents that was hit twice by Israeli army strikes on Tuesday, killing more than 25 people, in Bureij, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, May 7, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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UN: Israel's War Plans Threaten 'Continued Existence' of Palestinians in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the damage at a school used as a shelter by displaced residents that was hit twice by Israeli army strikes on Tuesday, killing more than 25 people, in Bureij, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, May 7, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians inspect the damage at a school used as a shelter by displaced residents that was hit twice by Israeli army strikes on Tuesday, killing more than 25 people, in Bureij, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, May 7, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The UN rights chief voiced deepened concerns Wednesday that Israel's plans to expand its offensive in Gaza aim to create conditions threatening Palestinians' "continued existence" in the territory.

Israel's military has called up tens of thousands of reservists for an expanded offensive in the Gaza Strip, which an official said would entail the "conquest" of the Palestinian territory.

"Israel's reported plans to forcibly transfer Gaza's population to a small area in the south of the Strip and threats by Israeli officials to deport Palestinians outside of Gaza further aggravate concerns that Israel's actions are aimed at inflicting on Palestinians conditions of life increasingly incompatible with their continued existence in Gaza as a group," Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement.

"There is no reason to believe that doubling down on military strategies, which, for a year and eight months, have not led to a durable resolution, including the release of all hostages, will now succeed," he said.

"Instead, expanding the offensive on Gaza will almost certainly cause further mass displacement, more deaths and injuries of innocent civilians, and the destruction of Gaza's little remaining infrastructure."

Nearly all of the Palestinian territory's 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once during the war, sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

A more than two-month Israeli blockade on all aid into Gaza has worsened the humanitarian crisis.

According to AFP, Turk warned that stepping up the Israeli offensive "would only compound the misery and suffering inflicted by the complete blockade on the entry of basic goods for almost nine weeks now".

"Gaza's residents have already been deprived of all lifesaving necessities, particularly food, with relentless Israeli attacks on community kitchens and those trying to maintain a minimum of law and order," he said.

"Any use of starvation of the civilian population as a method of war constitutes a war crime," Turk said, adding that "the only lasting solution to this crisis lies through full compliance with international law".

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 2,507 people had been killed since Israel resumed its campaign in mid-March, bringing the overall death toll from the war to 52,615.