Yemen Minister Questions UNMHA Silence over Houthi Violations

Yemeni Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Moammar Al-Eryani. (Reuters)
Yemeni Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Moammar Al-Eryani. (Reuters)
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Yemen Minister Questions UNMHA Silence over Houthi Violations

Yemeni Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Moammar Al-Eryani. (Reuters)
Yemeni Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Moammar Al-Eryani. (Reuters)

Yemeni Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Moammar Al-Eryani questioned on Saturday the silence of the UN Mission to support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA) over the violations committed by the Iran-backed Houthi militias in the country.

“We are surprised to see UN Head of Mission in Hodeidah and Chairman of Redeployment Coordination Committee, General Abhijit Guha silent towards the Houthi militias’ continued violations of the Sweden Agreement and their attack on the Mocha port, which is a civilian facility and on aid warehouses, endangering the lives of workers,” the minister said in a series of tweets.

He strongly denounced the “treacherous and cowardly terrorist attack”, saying the militias used four Iranian-made drones in their attack against the historic port of Mocha, where they burned the warehouses of a number of relief organizations operating on the west coast.

The attack took place a few weeks after the port had resumed operation.

“It represents a continuation of Houthi attacks against civilian location and the systematic destruction of infrastructure with an aim to take Yemen centuries back,” said the minister.

He noted that the attack coincides with the anniversary of 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States. It again confirms that the Houthis are a terrorist organization similar to al-Qaeda and ISIS.

“The intensification of political and military pressure, in addition to designating the Houthis as terrorists remain the only way to establish security and stability in Yemen and the region,” Eryani said.

He called on the international community, the UN and US envoys to clearly condemn the Mocha attack, which comes days after the new UN envoy assumed his duties.

The attack must be deemed a war crime and part of the militias’ continued destruction of infrastructure and obstruction of aid to deepen the country’s humanitarian crisis, he added.



Israel Sees More to Do on Lebanon Ceasefire

FILE PHOTO: A car drives past damaged buildings in Naqoura, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon,  January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Hankir/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A car drives past damaged buildings in Naqoura, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Hankir/File Photo
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Israel Sees More to Do on Lebanon Ceasefire

FILE PHOTO: A car drives past damaged buildings in Naqoura, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon,  January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Hankir/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A car drives past damaged buildings in Naqoura, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Hankir/File Photo

Israel said on Thursday the terms of a ceasefire with Hezbollah were not being implemented fast enough and there was more work to do, while the Iran-backed group urged pressure to ensure Israeli troops leave south Lebanon by Monday as set out in the deal.

The deal stipulates that Israeli troops withdraw from south Lebanon, Hezbollah remove fighters and weapons from the area and Lebanese troops deploy there - all within a 60-day timeframe which will conclude on Monday at 4 a.m (0200 GMT).

The deal, brokered by the United States and France, ended more than a year of hostilities triggered by the Gaza war. The fighting peaked with a major Israeli offensive that displaced more than 1.2 million people in Lebanon and left Hezbollah severely weakened.

"There have been positive movements where the Lebanese army and UNIFIL have taken the place of Hezbollah forces, as stipulated in the agreement," Israeli government spokesmen David Mencer told reporters, referring to UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

"We've also made clear that these movements have not been fast enough, and there is much more work to do," he said, affirming that Israel wanted the agreement to continue.

Mencer did not directly respond to questions about whether Israel had requested an extension of the deal or say whether Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon after Monday's deadline.

Hezbollah said in a statement that there had been leaks talking about Israel postponing its withdrawal beyond the 60-day period, and that any breach of the agreement would be unacceptable.
The statement said that possibility required everyone, especially Lebanese political powers, to pile pressure on the states which sponsored the deal to ensure "the implementation of the full (Israeli) withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the last inch of Lebanese territory and the return of the people to their villages quickly.”

Any delay beyond the 60 days would mark a blatant violation of the deal with which the Lebanese state would have to deal "through all means and methods guaranteed by international charters" to recover Lebanese land "from the occupation's clutches," Hezbollah said.