Five Bln Dollars Needed to Rehabilitate Yemen’s Transport Sector, Ports and Airportshttps://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3695356/five-bln-dollars-needed-rehabilitate-yemen%E2%80%99s-transport-sector-ports-and
Five Bln Dollars Needed to Rehabilitate Yemen’s Transport Sector, Ports and Airports
Yemeni youths commute on donkeys carrying plastic cans in the southern city of Aden on September 16, 2020. Photo: AFP
Aden - Wadah al-Jalil
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Five Bln Dollars Needed to Rehabilitate Yemen’s Transport Sector, Ports and Airports
Yemeni youths commute on donkeys carrying plastic cans in the southern city of Aden on September 16, 2020. Photo: AFP
The financial needs for the recovery and reconstruction of the transport sector in Yemen range between $363-443 million over five years, an estimate that could reach $2.1-4.1 billion, to rebuild the country’s major ports and airports.
A recent Yemeni study said that the Houthi coup has caused significant loss in the transport sector, destroying roads, bridges, ports and airports. It added that 29 percent of the total road network within cities was severely damaged, and 511.1 km of roads were totally destroyed.
According to the study prepared by the Yemeni-based Center for Studies and Economic Media, at least 50 percent of the road network in the cities of Al-Hazm, Taiz, Saada and Marib was damaged.
The war caused the closure of the highway between Sanaa and the city of Marib, which stretches along 173 km and links the country’s capital to the important oil and gas fields in the east.
The Houthi expansion also led to the closure of a number of important strategic 928 km roads, including the 200 km long road between the cities of Mocha and Hodeidah on the western coast of the country, the Aden-Bab al-Mandab Road in Mocha (350 km), and the Taiz-Mocha Road (100 km).
The militias are besieging the city of Taiz, causing the closure of all the main roads linking it with its surroundings and the rest of the governorates, which is leading to severe economic losses to public and private institutions and increasing burdens on the citizens, according to the study.
Moreover, the study noted that the Houthi militia planted mines in a large number of vital roads linking the most important cities of the country, such as the Sanaa-Marib road, east of the capital and the Taiz-Aden highway.
According to the World Bank estimates, the damage in the roads and bridges infrastructure is estimated at $500 million.
In addition, the ports of Hodeidah, Salif, and Mocha were severely damaged, as the Houthi militia exploited them to import weapons and divert their resources to the war effort. The ports of Aden and Mukalla need approximately $49.5 million to maintain their dilapidated equipment.
The war also affected the normal operation of air transport, while airports in Sanaa, Taiz, Aden and Al-Hodeidah stopped working or operated at a very low capacity, according to the study.
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, losses incurred by the airports amount to $2 billion, including damage to infrastructure, navigational and technical equipment, radars, and the suspension of travel.
Israeli Detonations Reshape South Lebanon Villages, Deepen Their Isolationhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5337200-israeli-detonations-reshape-south-lebanon-villages-deepen-their-isolation
Israeli Detonations Reshape South Lebanon Villages, Deepen Their Isolation
Israeli tanks and military vehicles on a road between destroyed houses in southern Lebanon near the border with northern Israel, April 29, 2026. (AFP)
Israeli forces are blasting homes, farmland, roads and bridges across southern Lebanon, leaving villages stripped of familiar landmarks and raising fears that residents may never be able to return.
The destruction extends far beyond military positions and hilltops, according to scientific data and a study of war damage. A military expert says the pattern points to an Israeli effort to reshape the region's population and landscape.
Officials at Lebanon's National Council for Scientific Research told Asharq Al-Awsat that 2,057 Israeli explosions were recorded between April 17 and Oct. 29, reflecting the scale of Israeli military operations. No published breakdown of their geographic distribution or counting methodology was available.
An earlier scientific report published by the council documented 1,731 mining and demolition operations in southern Lebanon between March 2 and September 10, including 1,128 after the June 26 “framework agreement”.
The daily average surged from 5.15 operations before the agreement to about 15 afterward.
Homes and bridges in ruins
More than 90,000 homes across Lebanon had been damaged or destroyed by mid-June, according to preliminary estimates cited in a study by Information International. The figure was not limited to southern Lebanon.
The study documented seven bridges completely destroyed and partial damage to the Qasmieh Bridge, among eight bridges targeted along routes linking the area south of the Litani River to surrounding areas.
Citing the International Organization for Migration, the study said 499,784 people remained internally displaced as of July 1, highlighting the struggle to restore stability even as returns began.
The National Council for Scientific Research also documented a massive blast in Majdal Zoun on June 28 and ground waves triggered by an explosion in Shaqif overnight on July 30-31, equivalent to a magnitude 3.8 earthquake, according to the National Center for Geophysics.
A separate explosion in Ali al-Taher on September 10 coincided with a magnitude 4.1 seismic event recorded by the US Geological Survey.
The Shaqif blast raised concerns over the historic Beaufort castle, which has temporary enhanced protection and is listed among the "Castles of Jabal Amel" on the World Heritage List.
The remains of a home destroyed by the Israeli army in the village of Beit Lif, southern Lebanon, April 22, 2026. (AFP)
'Eliminating the foundations of life'
Retired Staff Brigadier General Khalil al-Gemayel described the destruction as a systematic scorched-earth policy designed to wipe out residential communities, deprive them of the basic necessities of life and prevent residents from returning.
He said the operations were paving the way for a prolonged Israeli presence in areas under its control.
The council's tally of 2,057 explosions since April was consistent with the scale of Israeli operations on the ground, Gemayel said, pointing to almost daily blasts targeting not only military positions and hilltops but also homes, neighborhoods, buildings and infrastructure.
The destruction was particularly concentrated around major population centers such as Bint Jbeil, Khiam and Aita al-Shaab, as well as villages including Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh, he said.
Gemayel said the pattern closely followed Israeli troop deployments, with built-up areas and population centers facing Israeli positions bearing the brunt of the demolitions.
The operations went beyond immediate military objectives and were intended to bring about sweeping demographic and environmental changes, he added.
"Destroying homes, infrastructure, vegetation and farmland effectively eliminates the foundations of life, rather than merely preventing military use of these areas," he said.
Gemayel compared the operations to Israel's actions in Syria's Golan Heights after its occupation in 1967, when villages were demolished and cleared.
He said the same approach was now being repeated in southern Lebanon, with the landscape altered and the traces of residential communities erased.
Even a political settlement and Israeli withdrawal would not guarantee a swift return of the displaced, he warned.
Rebuilding communities could take years, perhaps decades, with some residents potentially unable even to locate their former homes after entire streets, buildings and village landmarks disappeared.
A general view shows homes and structures demolished by the Israeli army in the village of Beit Lif, southern Lebanon, April 22, 2026. (AFP)
Imposing a new reality
Gemayel said the demolitions were concentrated in several areas along built-up stretches extending roughly 1,000 meters in front of Israeli positions, targeting buildings and residential communities facing deployed troops.
He identified Majdal Zoun and Mansouri, along with areas around Srebbine, Yater, Beit Yahoun, Hadatha, Baraachit and Aita al-Jabal, as examples.
He said Israeli aerial surveillance and other technological capabilities often allowed its forces to distinguish civilian from military movements, but that had not stopped the destruction from spreading.
Gemayel said the ultimate aim was to prevent residents from returning to areas occupied by Israeli forces or facing their positions by destroying villages and residential communities capable of sustaining everyday life.
The scale and pattern of destruction suggested Israel intended to maintain a long-term presence while imposing a new geographic and demographic reality that could prove difficult to reverse even after military operations ended, he said.
Syria Says Foiled Hezbollah-Linked Plot to Bomb Oil Refineryhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5337173-syria-says-foiled-hezbollah-linked-plot-bomb-oil-refinery
Explosives and other equipment that were seized in possession of the detainees. (Syrian internal security forces)
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Syria Says Foiled Hezbollah-Linked Plot to Bomb Oil Refinery
Explosives and other equipment that were seized in possession of the detainees. (Syrian internal security forces)
Syrian authorities said on Tuesday they had prevented a sabotage attempt against an important refinery by figures linked to Lebanon's Hezbollah group, which denied the accusation.
The announcement comes after a series of unclaimed attacks against oil and gas pipelines across several parts of Syria.
Domestic intelligence and security forces "foiled a terrorist plot by a cell affiliated with the Hezbollah militia that was targeting the Homs refinery", the security forces said in a statement.
They said they had arrested two members of the cell and seized explosives intended for use in the attack.
In a statement later, Hezbollah denied the accusations "in their entirety", condemning "the repetition of these accusations".
It reiterated that it "has no presence or connections in Syrian territory and has nothing to do with any activity that undermined Syria's security and stability".
The Homs refinery, in central Syria, is the only operational one in a country devastated by more than a decade of civil war that ended in late 2024.
Another refinery, on the coast at Banias, is undergoing maintenance.
Damascus has previously announced the dismantling of cells linked to Hezbollah, which has denied the allegations each time.
The Lebanese group took part in Syria's war on the side of the since-overthrown Bashar al-Assad, fighting against those now in power in Damascus and earning their ongoing enmity.
On Sunday, Syrian news agency SANA reported a foiled plot against the refinery, while in early October Damascus reported sabotage attacks first against an oil pipeline and then a gas one.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem have both raised the possibility of meeting each other.
Jordan Charges Church Attack Suspects with Terrorismhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5337168-jordan-charges-church-attack-suspects-terrorism
Relatives mourn as they hold a framed portrait of a victim killed in an attack on a Greek Orthodox church during a funeral ceremony in Karak, Jordan, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP)
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Jordan Charges Church Attack Suspects with Terrorism
Relatives mourn as they hold a framed portrait of a victim killed in an attack on a Greek Orthodox church during a funeral ceremony in Karak, Jordan, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP)
Jordanian prosecutors on Tuesday charged three men with terrorism-related offences over a deadly gun attack last month on a church in the kingdom's south.
On October 23, gunmen killed nine people and wounded 25 others when they stormed a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in Hammoud village, in Jordan's Karak governorate.
Authorities said the suspected gunmen, two Jordanian brothers and their relative by marriage, fled after the attack but were arrested three days later.
According to a statement from Jordan's state security prosecutor, "the public prosecution has completed all investigative procedures... related to the terrorist attack carried out at Saint George Church".
The seven charges include "committing terrorist acts resulting in the death of a person, carrying out terrorist acts using weapons and ammunition, possessing weapons and ammunition for terrorist purposes, conspiring to carry out terrorist acts and promoting the ideology of a terrorist group".
Under Jordan's anti-terrorism law, a conviction on the most serious charge -- carrying out terrorist acts resulting in death -- is punishable by death.
Authorities have described the suspects as followers of a hardline extremist ideology.
The attack shocked the kingdom, where Christians make up around three percent of Jordan's Muslim-majority population.
Jordan retaliated by launching deadly strikes on "terrorist organizations" in Syria, claiming to have killed more than 20 extremists, but sparking a brief diplomatic crisis with its neighbor.
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