Houthis Loot Hodeidah’s Billions, Leave Residents Without Electricity

Hodeidah port, Yemen (AFP)
Hodeidah port, Yemen (AFP)
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Houthis Loot Hodeidah’s Billions, Leave Residents Without Electricity

Hodeidah port, Yemen (AFP)
Hodeidah port, Yemen (AFP)

Millions of Yemenis living in the Houthi-run Hodeidah governorate, which is experiencing long power outages and soaring temperatures, are experiencing miserable living and humanitarian conditions.

Severe heat waves are striking Hodeidah at a time when power cuts have reached more than 22 hours a day for the city's residents. Prominent Houthi leaders have been accused of looting about 21 billion riyals that were earmarked for electricity subsidies.

Yemenis said the Houthis, who have generated billions of Yemeni riyals in revenue from oil tankers entering Hodeidah’s port, were spending little to no money on addressing the intensifying power cuts or other basic services in the city.

Hodeidah residents reported that their suffering during this year’s summer heat was aggravated by the Houthi electricity cuts. The worsening situation is especially affecting the elderly and those with chronic diseases.

Residents talked about most families leaving their homes involuntarily and living temporarily in some streets and under trees to escape high temperatures.

Using the hashtag #Hodeidahisdying, people posted images of half-dressed men and children sleeping outdoors or on the roofs of their houses to escape the heat.

Activists accused the Houthi-appointed Hodeidah Governor Muhammad Qahim of being behind the looting of the Electricity Support Fund after handing over its management to the Houthi leader, Abdul Ghani al-Madani, in exchange for 60 million riyals he receives per month.

Residents in Hodeidah and officials said that looted money was transferred to Sanaa to fuel the Houthis’ military operations, leaving people in Hodeidah battling long power cuts during the hot weather.

Residents said electricity was available for three hours a day and the widespread cuts had affected all sectors, including hospitals where patients were dying due to the lack of air conditioning.



Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah Warns US Against Intervening in Israel-Iran Conflict

 Protesters hold Iranian flags during a protest against Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, at a bridge leading to the fortified Green Zone where the US embassy is located in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Protesters hold Iranian flags during a protest against Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, at a bridge leading to the fortified Green Zone where the US embassy is located in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
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Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah Warns US Against Intervening in Israel-Iran Conflict

 Protesters hold Iranian flags during a protest against Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, at a bridge leading to the fortified Green Zone where the US embassy is located in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Protesters hold Iranian flags during a protest against Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, at a bridge leading to the fortified Green Zone where the US embassy is located in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)

Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah warned on Sunday it would resume attacks on US troops in the region if the United States intervenes in the conflict between Israel and Iran.

"We are closely monitoring the movements of the American enemy's army in the region," Kataib Hezbollah Secretary-General Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi said in a statement. "If America intervenes in the war, we will act directly against its interests and bases spread across the region without hesitation."

Founded in the aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, Kataib Hezbollah is one of the elite Iraqi armed factions closest to Iran. The group, a key pillar of Iran's network of regional proxy forces, has claimed responsibility for dozens of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and US forces in both Iraq and Syria.

Early last year, Kataib Hezbollah announced the suspension of all its military operations against US troops in the region in response to efforts by the Iraqi government.

Kataib Hezbollah is part of a coalition of Iran-aligned groups known collectively as the "Axis of Resistance" — an umbrella of hardline Shiite armed factions that have claimed more than 150 attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since the onset of the Gaza war about 20 months ago.

Iraq, a rare ally of both Washington and Tehran, is striving to avoid upsetting its fragile stability while focusing on rebuilding after years of conflict.