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Yemen Calls for International Pressure on Houthi Militias

Yemen’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Abdullah al-Saadi addresses the UN Security Council (Saba)
Yemen’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Abdullah al-Saadi addresses the UN Security Council (Saba)
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Yemen Calls for International Pressure on Houthi Militias

Yemen’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Abdullah al-Saadi addresses the UN Security Council (Saba)
Yemen’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Abdullah al-Saadi addresses the UN Security Council (Saba)

Yemen has called for international pressure to compel Houthi militias to fulfill their commitments related to the April 2 truce agreement.

Yemen’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Abdullah al-Saadi told the UN Security Council that the Yemeni people continue to suffer as a result of the militias’ ongoing war and escalation of violence, causing the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

To end the conflict and alleviate suffering, Saadi said the Presidential Leadership Council and the Yemeni government have sought to support regional and international efforts to achieve a lasting, comprehensive peace based on the agreed upon terms of reference.

These include the Gulf initiative and its executive mechanism, outcomes of the comprehensive national dialogue, and the relevant Security Council resolutions, mainly resolution 2216 (2015).

Saadi affirmed that the government has shown flexibility and reacted favorably to all humanitarian actions despite the militias’ daily violations of the truce on all fronts.

Among these violations are establishing new military sites, smuggling weapons, bombing residential neighborhoods in Taiz, Marib, Hodeidah and other Yemeni areas, recruiting children and repositioning.

He pointed to the reopening of Sanaa airport, resuming commercial flights, and allowing the entry of oil derivatives ships through the port of Hodeidah.

He further accused the militias of using the oil revenues in their war against the Yemenis and the personal enrichment of their leaders instead of paying the salaries of public sector employees in the areas they control.

All provisions of the truce must be implemented, including the lifting of the siege of Taiz before discussing any other issues, he stressed, noting that Houthis have not renewed the negotiations on Taiz for some six weeks and are not cooperating on opening the main roads.

He urged the international community to pressure Houthis to respond favorably to peace efforts, respect the truce, release detainees and end the recruitment of child soldiers.

Saadi underscored the importance of prioritizing the issue of prisoners and detainees and carrying on efforts to release them and put an end to the obstacles created by the militias.

He went on to say that humanitarian organizations in Houthi-run areas are encountering obstacles, noting that the militias are preventing Yemeni people from receiving aid, provided that their children join their ranks.

They continue to recruit thousands of children, some not even 15 years old, while the truce is in place, brainwashing them with extremist ideas that glorify death and martyrdom, he said, warning that that could lead to a new escalation of violence.

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Arab World

Aid Groups Petition Israel’s Top Court to Halt Ban on Gaza, West Bank Operations 

Palestinian Red Crescent workers load medical supplies to be transported to Gaza, at the launch of a joint logistical operation with the European Union and the Red Cross, in the West Bank city of Beitunia, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP)
Palestinian Red Crescent workers load medical supplies to be transported to Gaza, at the launch of a joint logistical operation with the European Union and the Red Cross, in the West Bank city of Beitunia, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP)
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Aid Groups Petition Israel’s Top Court to Halt Ban on Gaza, West Bank Operations 

Palestinian Red Crescent workers load medical supplies to be transported to Gaza, at the launch of a joint logistical operation with the European Union and the Red Cross, in the West Bank city of Beitunia, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP)
Palestinian Red Crescent workers load medical supplies to be transported to Gaza, at the launch of a joint logistical operation with the European Union and the Red Cross, in the West Bank city of Beitunia, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP)

Around 17 international humanitarian organizations have petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court to block an imminent order that would force 37 NGOs to cease operations in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, warning of catastrophic consequences for civilians.

Organizations, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Oxfam, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE, were notified on December 30 that their Israeli registrations had expired and that they had 60 days to renew them by providing lists of their Palestinian staff.

If they fail to do so, they will have to cease operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, from March 1.

The petitioners said enforcement has already begun in practice, with supplies blocked and visas denied to foreign staff.

“We haven't been able to get international staff inside Gaza since the beginning of January. Israeli authorities denied any entry to Gaza, but also to the West Bank,” MSF head of mission in the Palestinian territories Filipe Ribeiro told AFP last week.

The petition, described as unprecedented in its scale, seeks an urgent interim injunction from Israel's top court to suspend the closures pending full judicial review.

The 17 petitioners, which include some of the NGOs hit by the ban, argued the Israeli measures are incompatible with an occupying power's obligations under international humanitarian law.

The NGOs said compliance would expose local employees to potential retaliation, undermine the principle of humanitarian neutrality and violate European data protection law.

“Turning humanitarian organizations into an information-gathering arm for a party to the conflict stands in total contradiction to the principle of neutrality,” the petition stated.

The petitioners said they have proposed practical alternatives to handing over staff lists to Israel, including “independent sanctions screening” and “donor-audited vetting systems.”

The organizations noted that they collectively support or implement more than half of all food assistance in Gaza, 60% of field hospital operations and all inpatient treatment for children suffering severe acute malnutrition.

Arab World

Baghdad Airport Closed Due to 'Technical Problem'

A passenger takes his belongings after inspection at the departure hall of Baghdad's International airport on March 14, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
A passenger takes his belongings after inspection at the departure hall of Baghdad's International airport on March 14, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
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Baghdad Airport Closed Due to 'Technical Problem'

A passenger takes his belongings after inspection at the departure hall of Baghdad's International airport on March 14, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
A passenger takes his belongings after inspection at the departure hall of Baghdad's International airport on March 14, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)

Iraq's transport ministry said Wednesday a temporary shutdown of Baghdad International Airport was caused by an "emergency technical problem,” denying reports of any security threat.

The closure prompted speculation on social media, but officials stressed that the halt in operations was purely technical and repairs were already underway.

Ministry spokesman Maytham Alsafi said the fault required "immediate precautionary action,” adding that technical teams had begun assessments and repairs, the state-run Iraqi News Agency reported.

He said the airport would reopen "within hours" once maintenance work and final checks were completed.

Alsafi rejected claims of domestic or foreign security risks behind the closure, calling the reports baseless and urging media outlets to verify information through official channels.

Arab World

Johnson: Ukraine War Result of West’s Failure to Punish Assad for Using Chemical Weapons 

20 August 2023, Syria, Idlib: Children play next to a destroyed building with a mural painted on it during a commemoration event for the 10th anniversary of the Ghouta chemical attack. (Anas Alkharboutli/dpa)
20 August 2023, Syria, Idlib: Children play next to a destroyed building with a mural painted on it during a commemoration event for the 10th anniversary of the Ghouta chemical attack. (Anas Alkharboutli/dpa)
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Johnson: Ukraine War Result of West’s Failure to Punish Assad for Using Chemical Weapons 

20 August 2023, Syria, Idlib: Children play next to a destroyed building with a mural painted on it during a commemoration event for the 10th anniversary of the Ghouta chemical attack. (Anas Alkharboutli/dpa)
20 August 2023, Syria, Idlib: Children play next to a destroyed building with a mural painted on it during a commemoration event for the 10th anniversary of the Ghouta chemical attack. (Anas Alkharboutli/dpa)

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the war in Ukraine was the result of the West's failure to support Ukraine after Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014, as well as its inability to punish Bashar al-Assad for using chemical weapons against his own people in Syria and the debacle of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Speaking on Sunday ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Johnson told the BBC: “I think (Russian President Vladimir) Putin was emboldened by a Western failure in Syria to punish Assad for using chemical weapons.”

“Putin was further emboldened in February 2022 by what he'd seen in Afghanistan, and a sort of general sense that the West was on the back foot. He'd seen those appalling pictures of Americans being forced to flee Afghanistan and the UK pulling out as well, and that really did embolden him,” he added.

Last November, Syria’s permanent representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Dr. Mohammed Katoub, warned that remnants of chemical weapons across the country pose a direct threat to civilians in more than 100 suspected locations.

28 April 2022, United Kingdom, London: UK's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks with Swiss President Ignazio Cassis (not pictured) during their meeting at 10 Downing Street. (Rob Pinney/PA Wire/dpa)

Katoub said that toxic remnants remain in areas previously struck or used for weapons production and that many of these locations are close to population centers, raising fears of accidental exposure.

Speaking on the first working day of the restored Syrian mission in The Hague, Katoub told the state-run channel Al-Ikhbariah that the Assad regime continued to use chemical weapons for 12 years.

He said the most recent documented incident occurred on December 5, 2024, in the village of Khattab, in the Hama countryside.

Based on reports from the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), the Assad regime is responsible for the sarin gas attack on Damascus' Ghouta district on August 21, 2013.

Assad regime forces launched four simultaneous chemical attacks on populated areas in eastern and western Ghouta, including the town of Muadamiyat al-Sham, using at least ten rockets loaded with sarin gas, with a total estimated quantity of approximately 200 liters.

The rockets were launched from designated launchers after midnight, taking advantage of weather conditions that kept the toxic gases close to the ground, resulting in the largest possible number of victims while they slept, a clear indication of a premeditated intent to target civilians demanding political change.

A man breathes through an oxygen mask while another receives treatment after a gas attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun in Syria's Idlib province on April 4, 2017. (Reuters)

This was compounded by a stifling regime blockade imposed since the end of 2012, which prevented the entry of fuel, medicine, and medical supplies needed to treat the wounded, exacerbating the humanitarian catastrophe.

On the morning of April 4, 2017, at approximately 06:49 am, fixed-wing Syrian regime warplanes targeted Khan Sheikoun city in Idlib’s southern suburbs using a missile loaded with poison gas which is believed was a nerve gas.

SNHR documented the deaths of 91 civilians, including 32 children and 23 women, who were asphyxiated by poison gas, which caused cardiac arrest and respiratory muscle paralysis in victims. Additionally, about 520 others suffered from suffocation symptoms, including 12 Civil Defense personnel and six media activists.

On April 7, 2018, the regime launched a chemical attack on Douma city in the Damascus suburbs. SNHR documented that 43 civilians, including 19 children and 17 women died of suffocation, while nearly 550 others were injured.