EU Joins Outcry over Execution of Nine Men by Houthis in Yemen

Policemen prepare a man, convicted of involvement in the 2018 killing of Saleh al-Samad, to be executed at Tahrir Square in Sanaa, Yemen September 18, 2021. (Reuters)
Policemen prepare a man, convicted of involvement in the 2018 killing of Saleh al-Samad, to be executed at Tahrir Square in Sanaa, Yemen September 18, 2021. (Reuters)
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EU Joins Outcry over Execution of Nine Men by Houthis in Yemen

Policemen prepare a man, convicted of involvement in the 2018 killing of Saleh al-Samad, to be executed at Tahrir Square in Sanaa, Yemen September 18, 2021. (Reuters)
Policemen prepare a man, convicted of involvement in the 2018 killing of Saleh al-Samad, to be executed at Tahrir Square in Sanaa, Yemen September 18, 2021. (Reuters)

The European Union joined a chorus of international criticism on Monday over the execution of nine men by the Iran-aligned Houthi militias in Yemen following their conviction for involvement in the killing of former prominent member Saleh al-Samad.

Samad, who was the head of the Houthis’ so-called supreme political council, was killed in an airstrike by the Arab coalition in the port city of Hodeidah on Yemen’s west coast in April 2018.

A Houthi court found the nine men, including one who was a minor, guilty of spying. They were executed on Saturday by firing squad.

Pictures and videos of the executions have been widely shared on social media, which showed military officers shooting the nine men in the back in Sanaa’s central public square.

In a statement condemning the executions, an EU spokesperson said there had also been reports of irregularities in the judicial process and allegations of mistreatment.

“The European Union strongly opposes the death penalty at all times and in all circumstances. It is a cruel and inhumane punishment...,” said the statement.

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a similar statement in which he also called for a moratorium on use of the death penalty in Yemen and for a peaceful negotiated settlement of the conflict there.

The US embassy in Yemen condemned what it called “a sham trial following years of torture and abuse” by the Houthis. Britain said the executions demonstrated “indifference to human dignity & blatant disregard for fair trial & due process”.



Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

At least eight Palestinians, most of them children, were killed and more than a dozen were wounded in central Gaza when they went to collect water on Sunday, local officials said.

The Israeli military said the missile had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant in the area but that a malfunction had caused it to fall "dozens of meters from the target".

"The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians," it said in a statement, adding that the incident was under review.

The strike hit a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing six children and injuring 17 others, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al-Awda Hospital.

Water shortages in Gaza have worsened sharply in recent weeks, with fuel shortages causing desalination and sanitation facilities to close, making people dependent on collection centers where they can fill up their plastic containers.

Hours later, 12 people were killed by an Israeli strike on a market in Gaza City, including a prominent hospital consultant, Ahmad Qandil, Palestinian media reported. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack.

Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday that more than 58,000 people had been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, with 139 people added to the death toll over the past 24 hours.

Negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire appeared to be deadlocked, with the two sides divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources said at the weekend.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene ministers late on Sunday to discuss the latest developments in the talks, an Israeli official said.

The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire are being held in Doha, but optimism that surfaced last week of a looming deal has largely faded, with both sides accusing each other of intransigence.

Netanyahu in a video he posted on Telegram on Sunday said Israel would not back down from its core demands - releasing all the hostages still in Gaza, destroying Hamas and ensuring Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.