Yemen Condemns Mocha Attack, Urges Firm Int’l Stance against Houthis

Yemen's PM meets with the Dutch ambassador to Yemen in Riyadh. (Saba)
Yemen's PM meets with the Dutch ambassador to Yemen in Riyadh. (Saba)
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Yemen Condemns Mocha Attack, Urges Firm Int’l Stance against Houthis

Yemen's PM meets with the Dutch ambassador to Yemen in Riyadh. (Saba)
Yemen's PM meets with the Dutch ambassador to Yemen in Riyadh. (Saba)

The Yemeni government condemned on Sunday the attack by the Iran-backed Houthi militias against the Mocha port that left massive destruction at the facility.

The Houthis attacked the port, located west of the Taiz province, with missiles and armed drones on Saturday days after it had resumed operations that had come to a halt during the conflict. The attack destroyed warehouses that were being used by relief agencies to deliver humanitarian aid and others that were used by importers.

The Houthis launched the assault hours before a government delegation was set to arrive at the facility to officially kick off the resumption of its operations. No human casualties were reported.

The government urged the international community to take a firm stance against the Houthis.

Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalek accused the Houthis of insisting on deepening the humanitarian disaster that they caused when they revolted against the legitimate authority and sparked the war in late 2014.

He said the attack is an extension of the militias’ targeting of civilian locations and their systematic destruction of Yemen’s economic infrastructure.

Meeting in Riyadh with the Dutch ambassador to Yemen, he called on the international community to condemn the Houthi crimes and the militias’ constant escalation.

The crimes must not be met with silence, the PM demanded.



Lebanese Authorities Detain People They Say Were Planning Rockets Attacks on Israel

 Lebanese army members gather near a charred car that was hit by an Israeli strike, in the southern coastal town of Ghazieh, Lebanon, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP)
Lebanese army members gather near a charred car that was hit by an Israeli strike, in the southern coastal town of Ghazieh, Lebanon, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP)
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Lebanese Authorities Detain People They Say Were Planning Rockets Attacks on Israel

 Lebanese army members gather near a charred car that was hit by an Israeli strike, in the southern coastal town of Ghazieh, Lebanon, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP)
Lebanese army members gather near a charred car that was hit by an Israeli strike, in the southern coastal town of Ghazieh, Lebanon, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP)

Lebanese authorities have detained several people who were allegedly planning to launch rockets into Israel and seized the weapons, the military said Sunday.

The army said that the arrests were linked to other detentions announced earlier this week. It added that as military intelligence was investigating that case they got information that a new rocket attack was being planned.

The army said troops raided an apartment near the southern port city of Sidon and seized some of the rockets and the launchers and detained several people who were involved in the operation. It said they were referred to judicial authorities.

Authorities on Wednesday detained several people, including a number of Palestinians, who were allegedly involved in firing rockets toward Israel in two separate attacks in late March that triggered intense Israeli airstrikes on parts of Lebanon. Lebanon’s Hezbollah group denied at the time that it was behind the firing of rockets.

Meanwhile on Sunday, a series of Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed two people, the Lebanese Civil Defense said in a statement.  

The Israeli army said in a statement that it killed Hussein Ali Nasr, whom it described as the deputy head of Hezbollah’s Unit 4400. Israel said Nasr helped smuggle weapons and funds into Lebanon via “Iranian operatives,” including through Beirut airport.

Another person was killed after a Lebanese army vehicle was hit by an explosion in circumstances that were unclear, the Lebanese Civil Defense said.

Since a November ceasefire ended a 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli airstrikes have killed scores of people in Lebanon including civilians and Hezbollah members. Israel says it’s targeting Hezbollah holdouts in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said Friday that its fighters will not disarm as long as Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon and the Israeli air force regularly violates Lebanese air space.