Houthi Landmines Kill 100 Civilians During Ceasefire in Yemen

Houthi mines and unexploded ordnance seized by the Saudi Project for Landmines Clearance in Yemen (MASAM)
Houthi mines and unexploded ordnance seized by the Saudi Project for Landmines Clearance in Yemen (MASAM)
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Houthi Landmines Kill 100 Civilians During Ceasefire in Yemen

Houthi mines and unexploded ordnance seized by the Saudi Project for Landmines Clearance in Yemen (MASAM)
Houthi mines and unexploded ordnance seized by the Saudi Project for Landmines Clearance in Yemen (MASAM)

The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs revealed that casualties increased by 38 percent during the truce due to Houthi landmines.

According to the latest UN office reports, 169 children and 79 women were killed or injured in the six months following the truce, citing landmines and unexploded artillery as the primary cause of casualties.

The report stated that landmines and unexploded artillery caused 343 civilian casualties, including 95 deaths, and 248 injuries, between Apr. 2 and Sept. 30, compared to 248, including 101 deaths and 147 injuries, in the six months before the ceasefire.

It also noted that preliminary evidence indicated torrential rains and flooding in July and August caused the explosive materials to shift.

Meanwhile, the Civilian Impact Monitoring Project stated that the monthly rate of civilian casualties dropped 54.3-percent, from 2,051 (including 630 deaths) during the six months preceding the truce to 936 (including 288 fatalities) between Apr. 2 and Sept. 21, 2022.

According to the project, this year's victims were mainly in Hodeidah, Taiz, Saada, Marib, and al-Jawf.

Hodeidah saw significantly higher numbers, and of the 598 civilian casualties reported in the governorate since the beginning of 2018, 31 percent have been killed in the nine months since the governorate’s frontlines shifted in 2021.

The UN office renewed the call for urgent and concrete efforts to clear the areas, noting insufficient funding from the Mine Action-Global Protection Cluster, noting that demining partners cleared 2,653,198 square meters of contaminated land across Yemen starting last June.

The office recalled the great benefits of the truce, saying it led to a decrease in the average monthly rate of internally displaced persons by 76 percent, noting that between Apr. 2 and Sept. 30, 11,294 families were displaced, compared to 46,640 families in the six months preceding the truce.

According to the report of the UN office, about 69 percent of the displacement, amounting to 7,500 families, has been reported since the declaration of the truce, most of whom fled sporadic clashes in areas along the front lines.

However, the UN report confirmed that the total number of displaced people decreased significantly in these governorates, compared to six months before the armistice when it was 32,775.



Israel Media Report Accuses Troops of Indiscriminate Killing of Gaza Civilians

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) arrives at the Netzarim Corridor just south of Gaza City - AFP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) arrives at the Netzarim Corridor just south of Gaza City - AFP
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Israel Media Report Accuses Troops of Indiscriminate Killing of Gaza Civilians

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) arrives at the Netzarim Corridor just south of Gaza City - AFP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) arrives at the Netzarim Corridor just south of Gaza City - AFP

A leading Israeli newspaper, citing unnamed soldiers serving in Gaza, described indiscriminate killings of Palestinian civilians in the territory's Netzarim Corridor, prompting a firm rejection Friday from the military.

Haaretz, a left-leaning Israeli daily that has faced severe criticism from the country's right-wing government, quoted soldiers, career officers and reservists who said commanders were given unprecedented authority to operate in the Gaza Strip.

According to AFP, they alleged commanders had ordered or allowed the killing of unarmed women, children and men in the Netzarim Corridor, a seven-kilometre-wide (4.3-mile-wide) strip of land that cuts across Gaza from Israel to the Mediterranean, and which has been turned into a military zone.

The report quoted an officer who recalled an incident in which a commander had announced that 200 militants were killed, when actually "only 10 were confirmed as known Hamas operatives".

Soldiers meanwhile told Haaretz they received questionable orders to open fire on "anyone who enters" Netzarim.

"Anyone crossing the line is a terrorist -- no exceptions, no civilians. Everyone's a terrorist," a soldier quoted a battalion commander as saying.

The soldiers also described how division commanders received "expanded powers" allowing them to bomb buildings or launch airstrikes that previously required approval from the army's top echelons.

The allegations contained in the Haaretz report could not be independently verified.

In a statement to AFP, the military rejected the accusations.

"All activities and operations conducted by (Israeli army) forces in the Gaza Strip, including in the Netzarim Corridor, are carried out in accordance with structured combat procedures, plans and operational orders approved by the highest ranks in the (army)," it said.

- 'No innocents in Gaza' -

The military added that "all strikes in the area (of Netzarim) are conducted in accordance with the mandatory procedures and protocols, including targets that are struck in an urgent time frame due to essential operational circumstances where ground forces face immediate threats".

"Incidents that give rise to concerns of deviations from army orders or ethical standards are thoroughly examined and addressed."

Many soldiers who spoke to Haaretz pointed to a specific commander, Brigadier General Yehuda Vach, who last summer took charge of Division 252, which has been based in Netzarim.

One of the soldiers said of Vach -- who was born in the settlement of Kiryat Arba in the occupied West Bank -- that "his worldview and political positions were clearly driving his operational decisions".

Another soldier said Vach had declared "there are no innocents in Gaza".

The military told AFP that the "statements attributed to him... were not made by him".

"Any claim asserting otherwise is entirely baseless."

The Haaretz report said Israeli soldiers spoke to the newspaper so that the Israeli "people need to know how this war really looks like, and what serious acts some commanders and fighters are committing inside Gaza".

"They need to know the inhuman scenes we're witnessing".

Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel sparked the current war, also reacted to the Haaretz report.

It said the testimonies offered "new evidence of unprecedented war crimes and full-fledged ethnic cleansing operations, carried out in an organised manner".

Hamas demanded that the United Nations and the International Court of Justice "document these testimonies and take the necessary steps to stop the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip".