Growing Houthi Violations Threaten to End Truce

A shell fired by the Houthi militia explodes near a Yemeni army site (Saba News Agency)
A shell fired by the Houthi militia explodes near a Yemeni army site (Saba News Agency)
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Growing Houthi Violations Threaten to End Truce

A shell fired by the Houthi militia explodes near a Yemeni army site (Saba News Agency)
A shell fired by the Houthi militia explodes near a Yemeni army site (Saba News Agency)

Houthi truce violations in Yemen have resulted in the death of over a thousand Yemenis, including soldiers and civilians, revealed Yemeni officials, adding that breaches by the Iran-backed militia threaten ending the ongoing, but fragile, UN-sponsored ceasefire.

Although the UN and its envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, underrate the danger of Houthi violations on battlefronts in Taiz, Dhale and Marib, a return to fighting on a larger scale is still a possibility in light of the recent Houthi mobilization on multiple fronts.

In a recent report, the Yemeni army stated that Iran-backed Houthi militias have committed more than 167 violations within 48 hours on Monday and Tuesday.

Truce breaches, according to the report, took place on the fronts of Hodeidah, Taiz, Dhale, Hajjah, Saada, Al-Jawf and Marib.

Army forces have also thwarted more than three Houthi infiltration attempts. The Houthis tried to infiltrate army positions west of Marib twice and once in Dhale.

In their attacks, Houthis have used artillery shelling, rocket-propelled grenades, and explosive drones.

At least 10 soldiers have been wounded or killed because of recent Houthi violations.

The Yemeni army accused the Houthi militia of escalating its activity in mobilizing reinforcements, digging trenches, and building fortifications, as well as deploying reconnaissance drones on various fronts.

“Houthis deliberately commit violations in blatant defiance of all UN and international resolutions,” said Captain Fadel al-Jalal, the 83rd Brigade’s morality supervisor.

Jalal confirmed that the truce on the fronts of Dhale was upheld by one party only, which is the army and the pro-government popular resistance forces.

Meanwhile, Houthis continued violations with heavy weapons such as artillery shelling and the use of medium weapons, as well as drones.

Jalal believes that “the most effective way to curb the arrogance of the Houthi terrorist organization lies in launching a broad and comprehensive military operation on all fronts in Yemen.”

Such an operation, according to Jalal, would achieve military resolution and help in restoring the state and its hijacked institutions.



Tributes Paid to Lebanon Conservationist Killed in Israeli Strike

Mona Khalil in 2004 with a newborn marine turtle near her home in Lebanon. Photograph: Joseph Barrak/AFP/Getty Images
Mona Khalil in 2004 with a newborn marine turtle near her home in Lebanon. Photograph: Joseph Barrak/AFP/Getty Images
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Tributes Paid to Lebanon Conservationist Killed in Israeli Strike

Mona Khalil in 2004 with a newborn marine turtle near her home in Lebanon. Photograph: Joseph Barrak/AFP/Getty Images
Mona Khalil in 2004 with a newborn marine turtle near her home in Lebanon. Photograph: Joseph Barrak/AFP/Getty Images

Activists and campaign groups on Saturday paid tribute to Lebanese environmentalist Mona Khalil who died from injuries sustained in an Israeli strike in the country's south, where she dedicated her life to turtle conservation for decades.

A medical source had previously told AFP that Khalil, aged in her late seventies, was badly wounded in an Israeli strike on June 4 that hit her home in the village of Mansouri, around 10 kilometres (six miles) south of the coastal city of Tyre. She died on Friday.

Julien Jreissati, program director at Greenpeace Middle East and North Africa, said Khalil had "dedicated decades of her life to protecting the sea turtles and coastline of Mansouri".

"Her loss is not only a loss for her family and community, but for the environmental movement in Lebanon and the region," he told AFP.

A wide stretch of south Lebanon's coastline near Tyre, which includes some of the country's best-preserved beaches, is a nesting site for turtles, including endangered loggerhead and green sea turtles.

After returning to her native Lebanon from the Netherlands more than two decades ago, Khalil set up the Orange House Project in Mansouri, a conservation project combined with ecotourism, where visitors could see turtle hatchings and take part in conservation activities.

"For decades, Mona stood at the forefront of conservation efforts along the southern coast," said the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL), mourning "one of Lebanon's most dedicated environmental defenders and a tireless champion of sea turtle conservation".

Her efforts contributed "significantly to the protection of one of Lebanon's most important sea turtle nesting sites in Hima Qoleileh-Mansouri, a seven-kilometre stretch of sandy and rocky shoreline that hosts more than 58 endangered sea turtle nests annually", it said.

Khalil inspired communities and "helped build a culture of environmental stewardship rooted in local ownership and collective responsibility", it added in a statement on Friday.

Local environmental group Green Southerners on X mourned "a pioneering environmental defender" who for decades "dedicated her life to protecting endangered sea turtles and their nesting habitats".

"Through the Orange House, she inspired generations of Lebanese to value and protect their natural heritage and coastal ecosystems," it added.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) had been reporting heavy strikes in the Tyre district, including raids on Mansouri, earlier this month when Khalil was wounded.

The village is also located near an area where Israeli troops are operating inside south Lebanon.

Khalil was among the few local residents still holding out there despite the Israel-Hezbollah war and sweeping Israeli military evacuation orders for the country's south.


Israel Carries Out Deadly Strikes in South Lebanon Despite Truce Announced with Hezbollah

Smoke billows from southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, as seen from Nabatieh, Lebanon, June 20, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer       TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Smoke billows from southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, as seen from Nabatieh, Lebanon, June 20, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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Israel Carries Out Deadly Strikes in South Lebanon Despite Truce Announced with Hezbollah

Smoke billows from southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, as seen from Nabatieh, Lebanon, June 20, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer       TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Smoke billows from southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, as seen from Nabatieh, Lebanon, June 20, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Israel carried out deadly strikes in south Lebanon on Saturday, hours after the US announced a renewed ceasefire in fighting that had strained a fledgling deal with Iran.

US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian this week signed a preliminary agreement to halt the Middle East war on all fronts, including Lebanon -- a key demand of Tehran's.

But follow-up talks scheduled for Friday in Switzerland were indefinitely postponed as Israel launched a wave of strikes in Lebanon that left dozens of people dead after four of its soldiers were killed in combat, sparking a furious reaction at home.

On Friday afternoon, a US official announced a new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah brokered by US and Qatari mediators, with Israel's ambassador to Washington saying it would respect the truce if Hezbollah did.

But on Saturday an Israeli military official said it was conducting fresh attacks against the Iran-backed movement, which it accused of having "launched more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon" overnight.

Lebanese state media reported Israeli air raids on around 20 locations, with the country's civil defense agency saying 16 people were killed in the Nabatieh area.

The Lebanese army said an Israeli strike killed a soldier on the Kfarrumman-Nabatieh road and accused Israel of undermining efforts to restore stability.

Israel's Arabic-language military spokesperson said calm could be achieved if Hezbollah halted what she described as hostile activity and violations of agreements, adding Israel's presence in a security zone aimed to remove threats and dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure, not harm civilians.

The US-Iran understanding announced this week calls for an immediate, permanent end to military operations by the parties and their allies across multiple fronts, including Lebanon.

Israel, which was not part of those negotiations, has opposed provisions it says could constrain its campaign in Lebanon.


Gaza Health Officials Say Israeli Strikes Kill Five

Palestinians inspect a destroyed vehicle following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 18 June 2026. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
Palestinians inspect a destroyed vehicle following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 18 June 2026. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
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Gaza Health Officials Say Israeli Strikes Kill Five

Palestinians inspect a destroyed vehicle following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 18 June 2026. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
Palestinians inspect a destroyed vehicle following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 18 June 2026. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

Gaza health officials said Israeli strikes on Saturday killed five people, including four members of the same family, in the latest violence to rock the Palestinian territory despite a ceasefire.

Israel and Hamas trade near-daily accusations of truce violations and the Gaza Strip remains gripped by bloodshed as progress on permanently ending the war remains stalled.

An overnight Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City killed four members of the al-Safadi family, including the husband, wife and their two daughters, said the civil defense agency, a rescue service that operates under Hamas authority.

AFP quoted it as saying that the strike also injured 12 others.

Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital confirmed receiving the bodies of four members of the al-Safadi family, including two children.

The hospital also said it had received another body following a separate Israeli drone strike near an intersection in the north of Gaza City.

When asked by AFP about the two incidents, the Israeli military did not offer an immediate response.

At least 1,012 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect on October 10 last year, according to Gaza's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

The Israeli army has reported five deaths in its ranks during the same period.

Restrictions imposed on media outlets and limited access in Gaza prevent AFP from independently verifying tolls or freely covering the violence there.