Saudi Oil Grant Lights up Hadramout, Aden

The oil tanker that carried the third batch of the Saudi oil derivatives grant to Yemen in the port of Aden at the end of last July (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The oil tanker that carried the third batch of the Saudi oil derivatives grant to Yemen in the port of Aden at the end of last July (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Oil Grant Lights up Hadramout, Aden

The oil tanker that carried the third batch of the Saudi oil derivatives grant to Yemen in the port of Aden at the end of last July (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The oil tanker that carried the third batch of the Saudi oil derivatives grant to Yemen in the port of Aden at the end of last July (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi oil grant to power stations in Yemen has raised production capacities by 40%, with the generated electricity feeding the governorates of Aden, Lahij, and Abyan.

Also, locals in Hadramout governorate, the largest in Yemen, reported an improvement in their power supply.

The Kingdom’s oil donation has helped decrease daily blackouts from six-hour breaks to three-hour pauses, providing electricity in five-hour intervals.

Moreover, the grant has helped the Yemeni government save significantly on its budget and has alleviated the suffering Yemenis used to experience as a result of power stations going out of service each month due to fuel shortages or delays in fuel delivery.

In the interim capital, Aden, government employee Abdulaziz al-Sqaf confirmed that the Kingdom’s successive grants to Yemeni power stations had a positive effect that citizens can feel.

According to al-Sqaf electricity blackouts have been halved, and power stations are no longer shutting down because of fuel deficiencies.

Amin Abdullah, a retail shop owner in Aden, confirmed that the difference the grant achieved was substantial and that all Yemenis were talking about how great of an improvement the donation has brought about to their lives.

Power cut-offs had severely affected the population, including seniors, children, and the ill. More so, electricity blackouts had taken their toll on the supply of essential commodities to Yemeni families, businesses, and the economy.

“People had suffered greatly from poor electricity supplies amid rising temperatures, and some families were forced to live in hotels,” Abdullah told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Nevertheless, Abdullah said that the situation is much better with the Saudi donation helping power stations produce more electricity for the people.

In Hadramout's capital city, Mukalla, local radio station director Majdi Baziad confirmed that the oil grant had achieved remarkable stability in electricity services in districts lying on the governorate’s coast.



GCC Strongly Condemns Israel for Striking UNRWA School in Gaza

Palestinians look on the damage after the Israeli air strike hit UNRWA's Al-Jaouni School housing displaced people in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, 06 July 2024. (EPA)
Palestinians look on the damage after the Israeli air strike hit UNRWA's Al-Jaouni School housing displaced people in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, 06 July 2024. (EPA)
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GCC Strongly Condemns Israel for Striking UNRWA School in Gaza

Palestinians look on the damage after the Israeli air strike hit UNRWA's Al-Jaouni School housing displaced people in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, 06 July 2024. (EPA)
Palestinians look on the damage after the Israeli air strike hit UNRWA's Al-Jaouni School housing displaced people in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, 06 July 2024. (EPA)

Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi strongly condemned on Saturday Israel for striking the Al-Jaouni school of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the Nuseirat camp in Gaza.

In a statement, Albudaiwi stressed that the brutal and ongoing attacks by the Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in Gaza and other Palestinian territories, and their direct targeting of refugee camps, “are a flagrant violation of international laws and humanitarian treaties.”

He described these acts as “war crimes that reflect Israel’s criminal behavior, in complete disregard of legal, moral, and humanitarian values.”

Albudaiwi called on the international community, including all states and organizations, “to take immediate and serious action to implement a ceasefire, stop the dangerous Israeli military operations, and hold those responsible for these violations accountable.”

He also underlined the “firm position of the GCC states in supporting the just Palestinian cause and making all efforts to protect the Palestinian people from the brutality and criminal behavior of the Israeli forces.”