Hadi Meets with UN, US Envoys and Stresses Need to End Houthi Terrorism

Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, Reuters
Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, Reuters
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Hadi Meets with UN, US Envoys and Stresses Need to End Houthi Terrorism

Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, Reuters
Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, Reuters

Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi stressed on Tuesday the need to stop the terrorism of Iranian-backed Houthi militias and affirmed his country’s commitment to reaching a sustainable peace solution based on the Gulf initiative, its executive mechanism, outcomes of the national dialogue and relevant UN resolutions, mainly resolution 2216.

Hadi’s remarks came during his reception of the US Envoy for Yemen, Timothy Lenderking, and UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

His meeting with Lenderking and Grundberg followed the UN Security Council passing a resolution that imposed an arms embargo on the Houthis as an entity.

Hadi affirmed to the envoys Yemen’s keenness on peace in line with the three references that are inevitable to achieve a comprehensive, just, and sustainable peace.

The president reiterated his full support for Grundberg and his efforts to reach a comprehensive ceasefire.

The UN envoy to Yemen and Lenderking had returned to the region again in the context of efforts to find a UN plan to bring peace.

For his part, Hadi clarified that the militias are waging their war against the Yemeni people, who are defending their country against hostile acts that affect innocent people and the displaced in cities and camps.

Houthi attacks often target civilian sites in Yemen and neighboring countries.

The Yemeni president highly praised the envoys’ efforts to achieve peace the Yemeni people are desperately waiting for.

“We’re peace-seekers. We have made huge sacrifices and offered significant concessions to stop the bloodshed, establish security and stability that maintain Yemen’s unity, security and stability,” Hadi said.

Hadi pointed out to the miserable humanitarian situation Yemen has been experiencing due to the war and its disastrous consequences. He squarely put the blame on the militias for prolonging the conflict and worsening the Yemeni peoples’ suffering.



Iraq's Election Result Ratified by Supreme Federal Court as Premiership Remains up for Grabs

Election workers gather parliamentary election ballots after the polls closed in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
Election workers gather parliamentary election ballots after the polls closed in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
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Iraq's Election Result Ratified by Supreme Federal Court as Premiership Remains up for Grabs

Election workers gather parliamentary election ballots after the polls closed in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
Election workers gather parliamentary election ballots after the polls closed in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

The result of last month’s parliamentary elections in Iraq was ratified by the Supreme Federal Court on Sunday, confirming that the party of caretaker prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani won the largest number of seats — but not enough to assure him a second term.

The court confirmed that the voting process met all constitutional and legal requirements and had no irregularities affecting its validity.

The Independent High Electoral Commission submitted the final results of the legislative elections to the Supreme Federal Court on Monday for official certification after resolving 853 complaints submitted regarding the election results, according to The AP news.

Al-Sudani's Reconstruction and Development Coalition won 46 seats in the 329-seat parliament. However, in past elections in Iraq, the bloc taking the largest number of seats has often been unable to impose its preferred candidate.

The coalition led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki won 29 seats, the Sadiqoun Bloc, which is led by the leader of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, Qais al-Khazali, won 28 seats, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, led by Masoud Barzani, one of the two main Kurdish parties in the country, won 27 seats.

The Taqaddum (Progress) party of ousted former Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi also won 27 seats, setting the stage for a contest over the speaker's role.

 


Hamas Confirms the Death of a Top Commander in Gaza after Israeli Strike

Destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 18, 2025. (Reuters)
Destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 18, 2025. (Reuters)
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Hamas Confirms the Death of a Top Commander in Gaza after Israeli Strike

Destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 18, 2025. (Reuters)
Destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 18, 2025. (Reuters)

Hamas on Sunday confirmed the death of a top commander in Gaza, a day after Israel said it had killed Raed Saad in a strike outside Gaza City.

The Hamas statement described Saad as the commander of its military manufacturing unit. Israel had described him as an architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war in Gaza, and asserted that he had been “engaged in rebuilding the terrorist organization” in a violation of the ceasefire that took effect two months ago, The AP news reported.

Israel said it killed Saad after an explosive device detonated and wounded two soldiers in the territory’s south.

Hamas also said it had named a new commander but did not give details.

Saturday's strike west of Gaza City killed four people, according to an Associated Press journalist who saw their bodies arrive at Shifa Hospital. Another three were wounded, according to Al-Awda hospital. Hamas in its initial statement described the vehicle struck as a civilian one.

Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of truce violations.

Israeli airstrikes and shootings in Gaza have killed at least 391 Palestinians since the ceasefire took hold, according to Palestinian health officials. Israel has said recent strikes are in retaliation for militant attacks against its soldiers, and that troops have fired on Palestinians who approached the “Yellow Line” between the Israeli-controlled majority of Gaza and the rest of the territory.

Israel has demanded that Palestinian militants return the remains of the final hostage, Ran Gvili, from Gaza and called it a condition of moving to the second and more complicated phase of the ceasefire. That lays out a vision for ending Hamas’ rule and seeing the rebuilding of a demilitarized Gaza under international supervision.

Israel’s two-year campaign in Gaza has killed more than 70,660 Palestinians, roughly half of them women and children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count. The ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.


Israel Army Says Struck Hezbollah Members in Southern Lebanon

Smoke rises above Lebanon, following an Israeli strike, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel, May 5, 2024. REUTERS/Ayal Margolin /File Photo
Smoke rises above Lebanon, following an Israeli strike, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel, May 5, 2024. REUTERS/Ayal Margolin /File Photo
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Israel Army Says Struck Hezbollah Members in Southern Lebanon

Smoke rises above Lebanon, following an Israeli strike, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel, May 5, 2024. REUTERS/Ayal Margolin /File Photo
Smoke rises above Lebanon, following an Israeli strike, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel, May 5, 2024. REUTERS/Ayal Margolin /File Photo

The Israeli military said it targeted three members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in strikes on southern Lebanon on Sunday.

The Lebanese health ministry said on Sunday that two people had been killed in separate Israeli strikes in the south of the country, which came despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

"Since this morning (Sunday), the (military) has struck three Hezbollah terrorists in several areas in southern Lebanon," the Israeli military said in a statement, AFP reported.

"The terrorists took part in attempts to reestablish Hezbollah's terror infrastructure, and their activities constituted a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon," it added, referring to the November 2024 ceasefire.

The agreement sought to end over a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which broke out at the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.

Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite the truce, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah members and infrastructure to stop the group from rearming.

The Lebanese health ministry said earlier on Sunday that an "Israeli enemy strike" on a motorcycle in Yater, south Lebanon, killed one individual and wounded another.

It added later in another statement that a second person was killed in a separate strike on southern Lebanon targeting a car in Safad Al-Battikh.

On Saturday, the Israeli army said it had "temporarily" suspended a planned strike on a building in Yanuh, which it described as Hezbollah infrastructure.

The decision came after the Lebanese army "requested access again to the specified site... and to address the breach of the agreement", the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said.

According to the ceasefire, Hezbollah was required to pull its forces north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometres from the border with Israel, and have its military infrastructure in the vacated area dismantled.

Under a government-approved plan, Lebanon's army is to conduct the dismantling south of the Litani by the end of the year, before tackling Hezbollah's weapons in the rest of the country.

In a televised speech on Saturday, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem, who has repeatedly rejected attempts to disarm the group, said "disarmament will not achieve Israel's goal" of ending resistance, "even if the whole world unites against Lebanon".