UN Chief Urges Yemen Rivals: No New Violence and Renew Truce

United Nations Secretary-General Antَnio Guterres speaks at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters on September 20, 2022 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)
United Nations Secretary-General Antَnio Guterres speaks at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters on September 20, 2022 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)
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UN Chief Urges Yemen Rivals: No New Violence and Renew Truce

United Nations Secretary-General Antَnio Guterres speaks at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters on September 20, 2022 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)
United Nations Secretary-General Antَnio Guterres speaks at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters on September 20, 2022 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Yemen’s warring parties on Monday to refrain from any provocations that could escalate violence. The move follows the failure to extend a nationwide cease-fire and to engage with each other to renew the truce.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the secretary-general is disappointed that the legitimate government and Iran-backed Houthi militias didn’t reach an agreement before the Oct. 2 deadline. But he stressed: "We in no way see it as the end of the road."

The initial two-month truce agreed to on April 2 and extended twice brought the longest lull in fighting since the devastating war began in 2014. The failure to renew it for an even longer period as the UN sought has raised fears of renewed clashes and a worsening of the already dire humanitarian situation.

Dujarric said UN special envoy Hans Grundberg is still in negotiations with the government and the Houthis and will continue to explore "options that are acceptable to both parties."

Last Friday, Guterres urged both sides to prioritize the national interests of the Yemeni people, expand the truce and "choose peace for good." His statement followed a stark warning three days earlier from Grundberg that the risk of a return to fighting "is real."

Dujarric said there’s still time for the parties to "do what they need to do to benefit the people of Yemen."

"The truce has directly benefited Yemeni civilians," he said. "Major military activity stopped. Civilian casualties have dropped significantly. Fuel imports through Hodeidah ports eased shortages, and international commercial flights out of Sanaa airport to Amman and other destinations have resumed."



UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Israeli forces raided four of its schools in east Jerusalem, ordering their closure.

Israel has severed all ties with the agency, known as UNRWA, and bars it from operating in its territory. It says the agency allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, allegations denied by UN officials.

UNRWA said police entered a training center by force on Tuesday, firing tear gas and sound grenades and ordering its evacuation. It said 350 students and 30 staff were present during the raid on the Qalandiya Training Center.

It said police and city officials ordered the closure of three other schools in east Jerusalem, two of which proceeded with the school day.

Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said police did not enter the UN buildings and that Jerusalem municipal authorities carried out the closures. He said police were deployed to protect the city workers, using “riot dispersal” means in one case where a crowd threw stones at them outside a UN facility.

Roland Friedrich, UNRWA director for the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, said the raids were an “unacceptable violation of United Nations privileges and immunities,” and a “denial of the right to education for children and trainees.”