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JIAT Refutes Five Recent Allegations against Arab Coalition in Yemen

JIAT spokesperson Mansour Al-Mansour refuted a number of claims raised by global bodies and international organizations allegedly committed by the coalition forces, Asharq Al-Awsat
JIAT spokesperson Mansour Al-Mansour refuted a number of claims raised by global bodies and international organizations allegedly committed by the coalition forces, Asharq Al-Awsat
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JIAT Refutes Five Recent Allegations against Arab Coalition in Yemen

JIAT spokesperson Mansour Al-Mansour refuted a number of claims raised by global bodies and international organizations allegedly committed by the coalition forces, Asharq Al-Awsat
JIAT spokesperson Mansour Al-Mansour refuted a number of claims raised by global bodies and international organizations allegedly committed by the coalition forces, Asharq Al-Awsat

The Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT) in Yemen announced on Wednesday the results of investigations into allegations against some military operations conducted by the Saudi-led Arab Coalition.

In a press conference, JIAT spokesperson Mansour Al-Mansour refuted several claims raised by global bodies and international organizations allegedly committed by Coalition forces, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

He confirmed that the investigations and collection of evidence have proven that the coalition has nothing to do with the attack that targeted a hospital in Saada and another one in Lahj governorate.

The team confirmed that the coalition attacked a health center in Sanaa Governorate in 2015 when the building was under construction and used by Houthis to store weapons and ammunition.

The spokesperson said that the targeting of the center was eligible for being a military target.

The team also refuted claims that missiles hit two buildings at Al-Thawrah General Hospital, which served hundreds of thousands of Yemenis in Taiz city.

According to the spokesperson, the probe confirmed that no military operations were conducted by the coalition near the hospital during the mentioned date.

Al-Mansour reviewed the results of assessing five incidents included in those claims as follows:

With regard to what was observed by (JIAT) in the open sources about the report issued by (Doctors for Human Rights) dated (March 2020), which included that on (18/01/2016) Coalition forces aircraft attacked (Ketaf Rural Hospital) in (Ketaf and Al-Baqa) directorate of (Saada) governorate, the attack led to a temporary suspension of services, the hospital was then rehabilitated by (UNICEF).

JIAT vetted the incident, and reviewed all documents, including air tasking orders, daily mission schedule, mission execution procedures, after mission reports, video recordings of the executed mission, satellite images, open sources, coordinates provided by the representative of the legitimate Yemeni government in JIAT and other relevant agencies for the health centers and hospitals contained in the report, JIAT, after assessment of evidences, found that (Ketaf Rural Hospital) is located in the city of (Ketaf) in the eastern part of (Saada) governorate, and is in the Coalition Forces No Strike List (NSL).

By studying the air missions carried out by the Coalition forces on (18/01/2016), which is the date of the claim, JIAT found that the Coalition forces did not carry out any air missions in (Ketaf) city, and that the closest military target the Coalition forces dealt with was (42.5) kms away from (Ketaf Rural Hospital) of the claim.

And on studying the air missions carried out by the Coalition forces one day before and a day after the date of the claim, JIAT found the Coalition forces did not carry out any air missions in (Ketaf) city. JIAT specialists studied the satellite images of the claimed site (Ketaf Rural Hospital), after the date of the claim, and found the claim consists of a building and its annexes, surrounded by a fence. And there are no signs of destruction or damages caused by aerial targeting on (Ketaf Rural Hospital) building.

Also, by comparing the allegation with the air mission carried out on the day of the claim, JIAT found the site of (Ketaf Rural Hospital) does not correspond to the site of the military target, as the claimed site is in (Ketaf and Al-Baqa) directorate, while the military target is in (Sahar) directorate, (42.5) km away from each other. Hence by logical deduction, JIAT found that Coalition forces did not target (Ketaf Rural Hospital) in (Ketaf and Al-Baqa) directorate of (Saada) governorate, on (18/01/2016) as claimed.

With regard to what was received by (JIAT), that on (03/09/2015) Coalition forces targeted (Athban Alasasiah School) in (Huraib) directorate of (Marib) governorate, which resulted in its destruction.

JIAT vetted the incident, and reviewed all documents, including air tasking orders, daily mission schedule, mission execution procedures, after mission reports, satellite images, field visit by members of JIAT to (Marib) governorate in Yemen, hearing witnesses testimonies about the incident, inspection of (Athban Alasasiah School) of the claim, Coalition forces rules of engagement, provisions and principles of International Humanitarian Law and its customary rules, and after assessment of evidences, JIAT found that (Athban Alasasiah School) of the claim is located in the north part of (Huraib) directorate, and in the south part of (Marib) governorate, about (60) kms away from (Marib) city, in a semi-isolated area, and no buildings adjacent to it.

The third incident is with regard to what JIAT observed in the open sources regarding the report issued by (Doctors for Human Rights) dated (March 2020), that on (29/05/2015) Coalition aircraft struck (Ghadran Health Center), at the time the center was under construction, and Houthis were using it as a military base.

JIAT vetted the incident, and reviewed all documents, including air tasking orders, daily mission schedule, mission execution procedures, after mission reports, video recording for the executed mission, satellite images, and the coordinates of the health centers and hospitals contained in the report, provided by all agencies and after assessment of evidences, JIAT found that (Ghadhran Health Center) is located in north part of (Bani Hashish) directorate, east of (Sanaa) city, and that on the date of the claim it was a building under construction, it was not functioning, and was not in the Coalition Forces No Strike List (NSL) at the time.

With regard to the statement issued by the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator and humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, on (March 18, 2020), that on (13/03/2020), missiles hit two buildings at (Al-Thawrah General Hospital), which serves hundreds of thousands of Yemenis in (Taiz) city.

JIAT vetted the incident, and reviewed all documents, including air tasking orders, daily mission schedule, daily missions of the Coalition Surface Forces, satellite images, open sources, Coalition Forces No Strike List (NSL), Coalition Forces rules of engagement, provisions and principles of International Humanitarian Law and its customary rules, and after assessment of evidences, JIAT found that (Al-Thawrah Hospital) is located in the north-eastern part of (Taiz) city, within the urban area, and is in the Coalition Forces No Strike List (NSL).

With regard to what JIAT observed in the open sources regarding the report issued by (Doctors for Human Rights) dated (March 2020), that on (09/07/2015) coalition aircraft attacked (Alwaht Hospital), which was occupied by Houthi fighters and used as a military base at the time, the attack caused severe damage to the facility.

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Arab World

Lebanon Charges Ex-Central Bank Governor Salameh Over Alleged $44.8 Mln Embezzlement

The Lebanese Central Bank in Beirut (NNA) 
The Lebanese Central Bank in Beirut (NNA) 
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Lebanon Charges Ex-Central Bank Governor Salameh Over Alleged $44.8 Mln Embezzlement

The Lebanese Central Bank in Beirut (NNA) 
The Lebanese Central Bank in Beirut (NNA) 

Lebanese prosecutors have indicted former central bank governor Riad Salameh and two lawyers on charges including embezzlement of public funds, forgery and illicit enrichment, judicial authorities said on Tuesday. 

Salameh, who headed the Lebanese Central Bank for three decades, was detained for about 13 months over alleged financial crimes committed during his tenure and was released in September after paying record bail of more than $14 million. The banker, who remains in Lebanon and is subject to a travel ban, has denied any ‌wrongdoing. 

According to ‌a copy of the indictment issued by Beirut's indictment ‌chamber ⁠seen by ‌Reuters, the panel accused Salameh alongside lawyers Marwan Issa el-Khoury and Michel John Tueni of embezzling $44.8 million from what it described as a central bank "consultancy account". 

It said the chamber also approved a request by the financial public prosecutor to widen investigations into how funds were moved into and out of banks without senior bank managers notifying the central bank's Special Investigation Commission. 

KHOURY SAYS HE HAS NO KNOWLEDGE OF 'CONSULTANCY ⁠ACCOUNT' 

In a statement to Reuters, Khoury said he had no knowledge of the "consultancy account" referenced in ‌the charge, had not been involved in the central ‍bank's financial transactions and had never received ‍funds from the institution. 

He said the indictment itself called for a ‍continuation of the inquiry and that there should not have been an accusation against him before the investigation was complete. 

Khoury said the inquiry had already proved that he had not received any funds from the central bank or any fees in relation to its financial transactions. 

Tueni could not be reached for comment. 

The indictment follows earlier moves by the central bank to file a criminal ⁠complaint against a former senior bank official at the central bank, a former banker and a lawyer over alleged illicit enrichment through misuse of public funds, the bank's acting governor Wassim Mansouri has said. 

Salameh, whose 30-year term ended amid a cascade of domestic and international investigations, has been under scrutiny over allegations that more than $300 million was siphoned off between 2002 and 2015. 

The central bank has said it will act as a principal plaintiff in a state investigation into Forry Associates, a company suspected of receiving commissions from commercial banks and transferring them abroad. The company is controlled by Salameh's brother Raja, who also denies wrongdoing. 

The Salameh ‌brothers are under investigation in France, Germany, Switzerland and other countries over alleged embezzlement. 

Arab World

Howling Winds Collapse Walls on Gaza Tent Camps, Killing 4, Child Dies of Hypothermia

Palestinians walk past tents used by displaced people, during a windy winter day, in Gaza City, January 13, 2026. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk past tents used by displaced people, during a windy winter day, in Gaza City, January 13, 2026. (Reuters)
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Howling Winds Collapse Walls on Gaza Tent Camps, Killing 4, Child Dies of Hypothermia

Palestinians walk past tents used by displaced people, during a windy winter day, in Gaza City, January 13, 2026. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk past tents used by displaced people, during a windy winter day, in Gaza City, January 13, 2026. (Reuters)

At least four people died overnight in Gaza from walls collapsing onto their tents as strong winds lashed the Palestinian coastal territory, hospital authorities said Tuesday. 

Dangerous living conditions persist in Gaza after more than two years of devastating Israeli bombardment and aid shortfalls. A ceasefire has been in effect since Oct. 10. But aid groups say that Palestinians broadly lack the shelter necessary to withstand frequent winter storms. 

The dead include two women, a girl and a man, according to Shifa hospital, Gaza City’s largest hospital, which received the bodies. 

Meanwhile, the child death toll in Gaza ticked up. The Gaza Health Ministry said Tuesday a 1-year-old boy died of hypothermia overnight, while the spokesman for the UN’s children agency said over 100 children and teenagers have been killed in the territory by “military means" since the ceasefire began. 

Family mourns 

Three members of the same family — 72-year-old Mohamed Hamouda, his 15-year-old granddaughter and his daughter-in-law — were killed when an 8-meter-high (26-foot-high) wall collapsed onto their tent in a coastal area along the Mediterranean shore of Gaza City, Shifa hospital said. At least five others were injured in that collapse. 

Their relatives on Tuesday began removing the rubble that had buried their loved ones and rebuilding the tent shelters for survivors. 

“The world has allowed us to witness death in all its forms,” Bassel Hamouda said after the funeral. “It’s true the bombing may have temporarily stopped, but we have witnessed every conceivable cause of death in the world in the Gaza Strip.” 

A second woman was killed when a wall fell on her tent in the western part of the city, Shifa hospital said. 

The majority of Palestinians live in makeshift tents since their homes were reduced to rubble during the war. When storms now strike the territory, Palestinian rescue workers warn people against seeking shelter inside damaged buildings, saying they could fall down on top of them. Aid groups say not enough shelter materials are entering Gaza during the truce. 

In the central town of Zawaida, Associated Press footage showed inundated tents Tuesday morning, with people trying to rebuild their shelters. 

Yasmin Shalha, a displaced woman from the northern town of Beit Lahiya, stood against winds that lifted the tarps of tents around her as she stitched hers back together with needle and thread. She said it had fallen on top of her family the night before, as they slept. 

“The winds were very, very strong. The tent collapsed over us,” the mother of five told the AP. “As you can see, our situation is dire.” 

Mohamed al-Sawalha, a 72-year-old man from the northern refugee camp of Jabaliya, criticized the conditions that most Palestinians in Gaza endure. 

“It doesn’t work neither in summer nor in winter,” he said of the tent. “We left behind houses and buildings (with) doors that could be opened and closed. Now we live in a tent. Even sheep don’t live like we do.” 

Israel’s bombing campaign has reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble and half-standing structures. Residents aren’t able to return to their homes in Israeli-controlled areas of the Gaza Strip. 

Child death toll in Gaza rises  

The Gaza Health Ministry said Tuesday a 1-year-old boy died of hypothermia in the central town of Deir al-Balah, the seventh fatality due to the cold conditions since winter started, including a baby just seven days old and a 4-year-old girl whose deaths were announced the day before. 

The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, says more than 440 people were killed by Israeli fire and their bodies brought to hospitals since the ceasefire went into effect just over three months ago. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. 

Meanwhile, UNICEF spokesman James Elder said Tuesday at least 100 children under the age of 18 — 60 boys and 40 girls — have been killed in Gaza since the truce began due to military operations, including drone strikes, airstrikes, tank shelling and use of live ammunition.  

Those figures, he said, reflect incidents where enough details have been compiled to warrant recording, but the total toll is expected to be higher. He also said hundreds of children have been wounded. 

While “bombings and shootings have slowed” during the ceasefire, they have not stopped, Elder told reporters at a UN briefing in Geneva by video from Gaza City. 

“So what the world now calls calm would be considered a crisis anywhere else,” he told 

The Palestinian territory's population of more than 2 million people has been struggling to keep the cold weather and storms at bay, amid shortages of humanitarian aid and a lack of more substantial temporary housing, which is badly needed during the winter months.  

It's the third winter since the war between Israel and Hamas started on Oct. 7, 2023, when gunmen stormed into southern Israel and killed around 1,200 people and abducted 251 others into Gaza. 

Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 71,400 Palestinians have been killed since Israel's retaliatory offensive began in the territory. 

Arab World

Syrian Army Tells Kurdish Forces to Withdraw from Area East of Aleppo City

Buses carrying displaced residents drive past a building in ruins as they return to the Achrafieh neighborhood after days of fighting between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)
Buses carrying displaced residents drive past a building in ruins as they return to the Achrafieh neighborhood after days of fighting between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)
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Syrian Army Tells Kurdish Forces to Withdraw from Area East of Aleppo City

Buses carrying displaced residents drive past a building in ruins as they return to the Achrafieh neighborhood after days of fighting between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)
Buses carrying displaced residents drive past a building in ruins as they return to the Achrafieh neighborhood after days of fighting between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)

Syria's army told Kurdish forces on Tuesday to withdraw from an area east of Aleppo after deadly clashes in the city last week, as a senior Kurdish official accused Damascus of preparing a new attack. 

Syria's government is seeking to extend its authority across the country, and progress has stalled on integrating the Kurds' de facto autonomous administration and forces into the central government under a deal reached last March. 

In Qamishli, the main Kurdish city in the country's northeast, thousands of people demonstrated against the Aleppo violence. 

Syrian state television published an army statement with a map declaring a large area east of Aleppo city a "closed military zone" and said "all armed groups in this area must withdraw to east of the Euphrates" River. 

The area, controlled by Kurdish forces, extends from near Deir Hafer, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Aleppo, to the Euphrates about 30 kilometers further east, as well as towards the south. 

On Monday, Syria accused the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of sending reinforcements to Deir Hafer and said it sent its own personnel there in response. 

The SDF is the de facto army of the Kurds' semi-autonomous administration and controls swathes of the country's oil-rich north and northeast, much of which it captured during Syria's civil war and the fight against the ISIS group. 

An AFP correspondent saw government forces transporting reinforcements including air defense batteries and artillery towards Deir Hafer on Tuesday. 

Kurdish forces denied any build-up of their personnel around Deir Hafer and accused the government of attacking the town, while state television said SDF sniper fire there killed one person. 

- 'Bloodshed' - 

Elham Ahmad, a senior official in the Kurdish administration, said government forces were "preparing themselves for another attack". 

"The real intention is a full-scale attack" against Kurdish-held areas, she told an online press conference, accusing the government of having made a "declaration of war" and breaking the March agreement on integrating Kurdish forces. 

"These assaults should stop," she said, adding that if guarantees were provided "for the security of the civilian population, we are ready to continue the negotiation and dialogue", suggesting the United Nations or other international organizations also take part. 

But, she added, "We will defend ourselves." 

Syria's government took full control of Aleppo city over the weekend after capturing its Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsud and Achrafieh neighborhoods and evacuating fighters there to Kurdish-controlled areas in the northeast. 

Both sides traded blame over who started the violence last Tuesday that ultimately killed dozens of people and displaced tens of thousands. 

In Qamishli, shops were shut in a general strike and thousands protested to voice their anger at the Aleppo fighting, some carrying Kurdish flags and banners in support of the SDF and its chief Mazloum Abdi. 

- PKK, Türkiye - 

Other protesters burned portraits of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, whose country has lauded the Syrian government's Aleppo operation "against terrorist organizations". 

Türkiye has long been hostile to the SDF, seeing it as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and a major threat along its southern border. 

Last year, the PKK announced an end to its long-running armed struggle against the Turkish state and began destroying its weapons, but Ankara has insisted that the move include armed Kurdish groups in Syria. 

On Tuesday, the PKK called the "attack on the Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo" an attempt to sabotage peace efforts between it and Ankara. 

A day earlier, Ankara's ruling party levelled the same accusation against Kurdish fighters. 

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 45 civilians and 60 soldiers and fighters from both sides killed in the Aleppo violence. 

Aleppo civil defense official Faysal Mohammad told AFP on Tuesday that emergency workers had pulled 50 bodies from the two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods since the end of fighting, without saying whether they were combatants or civilians.