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Houthis Accused of Committing 1,230 Truce Violations on Various Fronts in Yemen

A Yemeni fighter on a battlefront. (AFP)
A Yemeni fighter on a battlefront. (AFP)
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Houthis Accused of Committing 1,230 Truce Violations on Various Fronts in Yemen

A Yemeni fighter on a battlefront. (AFP)
A Yemeni fighter on a battlefront. (AFP)

The Iran-backed Houthi militias have committed 1,230 violations of the two-month nationwide truce in Yemen that was declared by the United Nations earlier this month.

UN envoy Hans Grundberg was in Sanaa for talks with Houthi officials in an attempt to consolidate the truce and persuade them to joint peace consultations.

This marks the first time he visits the Houthi-held Yemeni capital since his appointment in September. The militias had refused to meet with him before the lifting of restrictions on fuel ships and reopening of Sanaa international airport.

Houthi media reported that Grundberg kicked of his visit by meeting with the foreign minister of the militias' illegitimate government, Hisham Sharaf, and the Houthi official in charge of the prisoner file, Abdulkader Mortada.

Even as the envoy attempted to persuade the militias to join peace talks, he was met with their same demands over the reopening of Sanaa airport, lifting all curbs on Hodeidah port and the payment of salaries in Houthi-held regions. The legitimate government believes these demands, if they are fulfilled, will help the Houthis prolong the war and smuggle Iranian weapons.

Meanwhile, Yemeni military spokesman Abdo Majali revealed that the Houthis have committed 1,230 violations of the truce since its announcement.

Speaking at a press briefing on field developments, he said the militias have committed the violations on all battlefronts in the Marib, Taiz, Hajjah, Dhale and Saada provinces.

He stressed that the national army was fully committed to the UN ceasefire and orders of the military and political leaderships, while the Houthis continue their escalations and breaches.

The violations ranged from the amassing of forces, artillery attacks on the military, the deployment of snipers and the flying of armed drone attacks.

Majali accused the Houthis of bringing in more reinforcements to battlefronts in southern Marib. He revealed that they have already sent over 40 military vehicles.

The Houthis also fired a ballistic missile in the province that left material damage on civilian property.

In Taiz, the military confirmed 342 violations, including the firing of mortar and artillery shells on residential areas adjacent to army bases, the deployment of snipers, and bringing in more reinforcements.

Majali added that the army returned fire against the Houthis when it came under attack.

Elsewhere, the Houthis committed 305 truce violations in Hajjah, 156 in Hodeidah, 100 in al-Jawf, 61 in Dhaleh and 40 in Saada.

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Arab World

Israeli Evacuation Orders Affect 14% of Lebanon, NGO Says

Emergency personnel at the scene after an Israeli airstrike had targeted a neighborhood in the town of Mieh Mieh near Sidon, southern Lebanon, 13 March 2026. (EPA)
Emergency personnel at the scene after an Israeli airstrike had targeted a neighborhood in the town of Mieh Mieh near Sidon, southern Lebanon, 13 March 2026. (EPA)
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Israeli Evacuation Orders Affect 14% of Lebanon, NGO Says

Emergency personnel at the scene after an Israeli airstrike had targeted a neighborhood in the town of Mieh Mieh near Sidon, southern Lebanon, 13 March 2026. (EPA)
Emergency personnel at the scene after an Israeli airstrike had targeted a neighborhood in the town of Mieh Mieh near Sidon, southern Lebanon, 13 March 2026. (EPA)

Over an eighth of Lebanon's territory is under Israeli orders for people to leave their homes, an aid group said on Friday, while the United Nations peacekeeping mission said Israeli ground troops were making incursions and erecting roadblocks.

Israel has been carrying out daily strikes on Lebanon since March 2 when the Iran-backed group Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader in Tehran on the first ‌day of ‌the US-Israeli war with Iran.

Almost 700 people ‌in ⁠Lebanon have died ⁠in Israeli attacks and over 800,000 have been displaced. Israel's military says it has targeted Hezbollah militants and Iranian forces.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said Israel's evacuation orders for southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut now covered about 1,470 square kilometers or about 14% of the country.

"Israel’s mass evacuation orders have expanded to broad geographic directives, often ⁠demanding immediate movement, creating panic and fear across communities ‌that strikes are imminent – even when ‌they are not," said Maureen Philippon, NRC Country Director in Lebanon.

UN human rights ‌chief Volker Turk has said the blanket Israeli evacuation orders ‌raise serious international law concerns.

NRC's office in Tyre, south Lebanon, was badly damaged, it said, with no injuries. The Israeli military has carried out several strikes on Tyre since March 2, including a Tuesday strike on what ‌it described as a Hezbollah command center in the area.

The International Organization for Migration's Mathieu Luciano told a ⁠Geneva press ⁠briefing that around 600 shelters had been set up across the country, with many of them almost full. Hospitals are increasingly overstretched due to surging trauma cases, a World Health Organization official added.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon told the same briefing its operations had been limited by the ongoing hostilities which injured two soldiers a week ago. Still, its troops had observed Israeli troop incursions, saying they had travelled up to 7 kilometers inside Lebanon and erected roadblocks restricting access.

“We are deeply concerned that the situation will deteriorate further," UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel said by video link from Lebanon.

Arab World

4 US Service Members Killed in Plane Crash Over Iraq

(FILES) A US Air Force Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aerial-refuelling aircraft flies over Tel Aviv on March 4, 2026. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)
(FILES) A US Air Force Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aerial-refuelling aircraft flies over Tel Aviv on March 4, 2026. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)
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4 US Service Members Killed in Plane Crash Over Iraq

(FILES) A US Air Force Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aerial-refuelling aircraft flies over Tel Aviv on March 4, 2026. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)
(FILES) A US Air Force Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aerial-refuelling aircraft flies over Tel Aviv on March 4, 2026. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)

Four of the six crew members aboard a US military aircraft that crashed in western Iraq are confirmed to have been killed, the US military said on Friday, ⁠as rescue efforts ⁠continued for the remaining two.

A US military refueling aircraft crashed in western ⁠Iraq on Thursday, in an incident the military said involved another aircraft but was not the result of hostile or friendly fire.

"The circumstances of the incident are ⁠under ⁠investigation. However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire," a statement from US Central Command said.

The plane was taking part in the operation against Iran.

Both President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have warned that the Iran war would likely claim more American lives before it ends.

Arab World

Iran War Raises Concerns Over Impact on Suez Canal Traffic

A ship transits the Suez Canal last month (Suez Canal Authority). 
A ship transits the Suez Canal last month (Suez Canal Authority). 
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Iran War Raises Concerns Over Impact on Suez Canal Traffic

A ship transits the Suez Canal last month (Suez Canal Authority). 
A ship transits the Suez Canal last month (Suez Canal Authority). 

The Iran war has sparked growing concern in Egypt over its potential impact on navigation through the Suez Canal, one of the country’s most important sources of national income. Experts say the conflict has already begun affecting traffic through the strategic waterway as security risks for ships increase.

Recent reports indicate that several major global shipping companies—including Denmark’s Maersk, France’s CMA CGM, and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd—have suspended the transit of some vessels through the canal.

The head of the Suez Canal Authority, Admiral Osama Rabie, expressed hope that regional stability would return soon, warning that escalating tensions could have serious repercussions for maritime transport and global supply chains.

In a statement issued Thursday, Rabie said the authority has moved to upgrade its maritime and navigational services and introduce new activities designed to meet customer needs in both normal and emergency circumstances. These include ship maintenance and repair services, maritime rescue operations and marine ambulance services, alongside continued modernization of the authority’s fleet of marine units.

Early impact on canal traffic

International transport expert Osama Aqil said the war’s effect on the canal had been evident since the first days of the conflict.

“Current indicators show that canal traffic has declined by about 50 percent since the war began,” Aqil told Asharq Al-Awsat. He attributed the drop to rising security risks and higher insurance premiums imposed on vessels passing through the region.

Aqil warned that the impact could deepen if the conflict drags on. Even after hostilities end, he said, it may take considerable time for shipping traffic to return to normal.

“International shipping groups that divert their vessels to the Cape of Good Hope route will likely sign contracts for the alternative passage,” he said. “Ending those arrangements and redirecting ships back through the canal will take time.”

Before the latest tensions, the Suez Canal had been showing signs of recovery following an earlier setback caused by Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea linked to the war in Gaza.

In January, the Suez Canal Authority said navigation statistics showed a “noticeable improvement” during the first half of the 2025–2026 fiscal year. Rabie said at the time that indicators pointed to improving revenues as some shipping lines resumed using the canal after conditions stabilized in the Red Sea.

Wider threat to global trade

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has also warned about the impact of regional tensions on shipping in the Red Sea. During a meeting in Cairo earlier this month with Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank Group, Sisi said Egypt had lost roughly $10 billion in Suez Canal revenues due to the Gaza war, according to the Egyptian presidency.

Aqil said the Iran war could affect not only the canal but global trade more broadly, which he said has already shown signs of slowing.

“If the conflict continues, transport costs will rise, which will push up prices for many goods and commodities,” he stated.

Suez Canal revenues dropped sharply in 2024, falling 61 percent to $3.9 billion, compared with about $10.2 billion in 2023.

Security risk management expert Major General Ihab Youssef noted that the continuation of the war poses a threat to global navigation, not only to the Suez Canal.

Egypt secures ships along the canal and up to the limits of its territorial waters, he remarked. However, vessels traveling to and from the waterway must still pass through areas affected by military operations in the Gulf region and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, prompting many shipping companies to reroute vessels around the Cape of Good Hope.

“Any closure of the Strait of Hormuz would further increase the risks of transit, particularly if the war is prolonged,” Youssef said.