Presidential Leadership Council: Houthis Don't Care About Yemenis' Sufferings

The meeting of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (Saba)
The meeting of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (Saba)
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Presidential Leadership Council: Houthis Don't Care About Yemenis' Sufferings

The meeting of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (Saba)
The meeting of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (Saba)

The Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council held meetings in Aden to launch a new phase where services, the economy, and security are a priority.

The meetings are held in the presence of the cabinet and initiated in parallel with the political track led by the Council, the UN, and the international community aiming to end the Houthi coup.

The Yemeni state, with its various legislative and executive institutions, returned to the country on April 20, 2022, which boosted the national and foreign policies and set the legitimacy on a more robust path.

The state-owned Yemeni News Agency (Saba) reported that Rashad al-Alimi chaired Friday’s meeting to discuss the national developments and challenges.

The agency quoted Alimi confirming that the current stage requires joint official and popular efforts to build the state and face all challenges, namely the economic issues, which he believes will "reflect on the citizen's lives."

Alimi stressed the necessity of achieving the priorities announced before the parliament, especially regarding the living and economic situation.

He asserted that the temporary capital of Aden is one of the top priorities and requires more vital efforts to achieve development and stability.

The meeting discussed military and security challenges, asserting the Presidential Council's commitment to the humanitarian ceasefire despite the Houthis' continuous violations, which the Council said "asserts the militias' unwillingness to achieve peace."

The Council renewed its call for peace as the only option to end the bloodshed, stating that the Houthis "never care about the suffering of our Yemeni people."

Meanwhile, the Consultation and Reconciliation Commission of the Presidential Leadership Council held on Saturday its first meeting in Aden, headed by Mohammad al-Ghaithi.

According to official sources, the meeting was attended by the Vice-President of the Commission, Abdul-Malik al-Mekhlafi, Jamila Ali Raja, and Judge Akram al-Amri.

The meeting discussed the priorities of the next phase, in line with the objectives to support the Presidential Leadership Council and create the appropriate conditions for boosting the partnership between various forces and political components.



Israeli Forces Surround Lebanon’s Khiam Ahead of Storming it

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
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Israeli Forces Surround Lebanon’s Khiam Ahead of Storming it

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)

Israeli forces have blocked supply routes to the southern Lebanese border city of al-Khiam ahead of storming it.

They have also surrounded the strategic city with Hezbollah fighters still inside, launching artillery and air attacks against them.

Hezbollah fighters have been holding out in Khiam for 25 days. The capture of the city would be significant and allow Israeli forces easier passage into southern Lebanon.

Field sources said Israeli forces have already entered some neighborhoods of Khiam from its eastern and southern outskirts, expanding their incursion into its northern and eastern sectors to fully capture the city.

They cast doubt on claims that the city has been fully captured, saying fighting is still taking place deeper inside its streets and alleys, citing the ongoing artillery fire and drone and air raids.

Israel has already cut off Hezbollah’s supply routes by seizing control of Bourj al-Mamlouk, Tall al-Nahas and olive groves in al-Qlaa in the Marayoun region. Its forces have also fanned out to the west towards the Litani River.

The troops have set up a “line of fire” spanning at least seven kms around Khiam to deter anti-tank attacks from Hezbollah and to launch artillery, drone and aerial attacks, said the sources.

The intense pressure has forced Hezbollah to resort to suicide drone attacks against Israeli forces.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar television said Israeli forces tried to carry out a new incursion towards Khiam’s northern neighborhoods.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that since Friday night, Israeli forces have been using “all forms of weapons in their attempt to capture Khiam, which Israel views as a strategic gateway through which it can make rapid ground advances.”

It reported an increase in air and artillery attacks in the past two days as the forces try to storm the city.

The troops are trying to advance on Khiam by first surrounding it from all sides under air cover, it continued.

They are also booby-trapping some homes and buildings and then destroying them, similar to what they have done in other southern towns, such as Adeisseh, Yaround, Aitaroun and Mais al-Jabal.

Khiam holds symbolic significance to the Lebanese people because it was the first city liberated following Israel’s implementation of United Nations Security Council 425 on May 25, 2000, that led to its withdrawal from the South in a day that Hezbollah has since declared Liberation Day.