World Bank Grants Yemen $100 Mn to Expand Electricity Access

A view of the state-owned al-Haswa power station in Aden, Yemen (Reuters)
A view of the state-owned al-Haswa power station in Aden, Yemen (Reuters)
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World Bank Grants Yemen $100 Mn to Expand Electricity Access

A view of the state-owned al-Haswa power station in Aden, Yemen (Reuters)
A view of the state-owned al-Haswa power station in Aden, Yemen (Reuters)

The World Bank approved a $100 million grant to Yemen for the second phase of the Yemen Emergency Electricity Access Project, announced Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Waed Badhib.

Badhib said that the project aims to increase access to electricity in rural areas and cities' outskirts and plans to restore the capacity of the electricity sector.

He explained that this additional grant is provided by the International Development Association (IDA), the arm of the World Bank, to help the poorest countries around the world.

The UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) will implement the project in partnership with local stakeholders.

The Minister confirmed that the new grant would provide many public service facilities with new or improved electricity services, helping Yemenis have better access to critical services.

It will also enable small and innovative businesses to gain access to solar systems, encouraging job creation and reaching the desired stage of economic recovery.

Earlier, the Yemeni Prime Minister, Maeen Abdulmalik, confirmed that the World Bank agreed to support government institutions and achieve economic recovery.

Abdulmalik said Yemeni officials met with World Bank and International Finance Corporation officials in Aden.

He explained that the meeting reached an agreement on boosting the Bank's presence in Aden to support partnership and cooperation, respond to humanitarian and development needs, and back state capabilities to achieve stability and recovery.

Abdulmalik stated that the meeting addressed the most prominent challenges and several important issues relating to the food security and energy sectors.

He stressed the need to shift to development in Yemen, suffering from the war against the Iranian-backed Houthi militia.

He explained that the government agreed with the World Bank on several points to launch the next stage, focusing on balancing the emergency response to sustainability with development projects.

They also agreed to finance the productive sectors, fisheries, and agriculture and activate oversight over international organizations, namely projects funded through the World Bank.

The two asserted the need to support the private sector, and the premier stressed the importance of the Bank's contribution to maintaining capabilities within public institutions.

The PM praised the "unique experience" of the World Bank in Yemen, especially since the international organization has been a key and strategic partner since the sixties.

The World Bank is a partner in building effective institutions such as the Social Fund for Development and the Public Works Project, capable of implementing projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Through the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank funded several projects in many sectors in the last 18 months, including health, education, and emergency cash transfers, totaling more than $1 billion.



94 Palestinians Killed in Gaza, Including 45 People Waiting for Aid

A Palestinian inspects the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an overnight Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
A Palestinian inspects the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an overnight Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
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94 Palestinians Killed in Gaza, Including 45 People Waiting for Aid

A Palestinian inspects the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an overnight Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
A Palestinian inspects the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an overnight Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Airstrikes and shootings killed 94 Palestinians in Gaza overnight, including 45 while attempting to get much-needed humanitarian aid, hospitals and the Health Ministry said Thursday.

Israel’s military did not have immediate comment on the strikes, The Associated Press reported.

Five people were killed while outside sites associated with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the newly created, secretive American organization backed by Israel to feed the Gaza Strip’s population, while 40 others were killed waiting for aid trucks in other locations across the Gaza Strip.

Dozens of people were killed in airstrikes that pounded the Strip Wednesday night and Thursday morning, including 15 people killed in strikes that hit tents in the sprawling Muwasi zone, where many displaced Palestinians are sheltering, and a strike on a school in Gaza City sheltering displaced people.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza has passed 57,000, including 223 missing people who have been declared dead. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its death count but says that more than half of the dead are women and children.

The deaths come as Israel and Hamas inch closer to a possible ceasefire that would end the 21-month war.

Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. But Hamas’ response, which emphasized its demand that the war end, raised questions about whether the latest offer could materialize into an actual pause in fighting.

The Israeli military blames Hamas for the civilian casualties because it operates from populated areas. The military said it targeted Hamas members and rocket launchers in northern Gaza that launched rockets towards Israel on Wednesday.

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.

The war has left the coastal Palestinian territory in ruins, with much of the urban landscape flattened in the fighting. More than 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has been displaced, often multiple times. And the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, leaving hundreds of thousands of people hungry.