Yemen Presidential Council Stresses Need to Take Deterrent Measures against Houthi Terror

Dr. Rashad al-Alimi chairs the Presidential Leadership Council meeting on Sunday. (Saba)
Dr. Rashad al-Alimi chairs the Presidential Leadership Council meeting on Sunday. (Saba)
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Yemen Presidential Council Stresses Need to Take Deterrent Measures against Houthi Terror

Dr. Rashad al-Alimi chairs the Presidential Leadership Council meeting on Sunday. (Saba)
Dr. Rashad al-Alimi chairs the Presidential Leadership Council meeting on Sunday. (Saba)

Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council said on Sunday it will implement deterrent punitive measures against the Iran-backed Houthi militias in response to its terrorist escalation.

It held the militias fully responsible for the consequences of their attacks on life-saving humanitarian supplies.

PLC Chairman Dr. Rashad al-Alimi convened the virtual council meeting that tackled ongoing efforts to take measures to stop Houthi terrorism and attacks against oil export ports.

Yemeni sources said the meeting discussed local developments and structural reforms at “sovereign agencies.”

It also tackled “government measures to implement National Defense Council Resolution No. (1) of 2022 related to the classification of the Houthi militias as terrorist,” the sources added.

The council discussed proposals to strengthen the role of agencies concerned with combating terrorism, deterring Houthi attacks on infrastructure and economic facilities and threats to international peace and security.

The Presidential Leadership Council stressed its commitment to defending national sovereign interests and facilities, securing basic services and livelihoods, and limiting the repercussions of the systematic terrorist targeting of the oil sector and civilian facilities.

Meanwhile, Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak discussed with US Ambassador to Yemen Steven Fagin on Sunday the developments in Yemen and the repercussions of the continued terrorist Houthi attacks on ships and economic and oil installations, reported the state news agency Saba.

They discussed the difficulties impeding peace efforts in Yemen in wake of the Houthi escalation and their threat to international navigation and international peace and security.

Bin Mubarak said the government is proceeding with the procedures to implement the decision to designate the militias as a terrorist organization.

He highlighted the importance of the international community's support for the decision to help contain the Houthi threat.

For his part, the US ambassador renewed his country's condemnation of the Houthi terrorist attacks on oil facilities, stressing his country's support for the security, stability and unity of Yemen.



Gaza Rescuers Say Israeli Strike on Hospital Kills 7

Damage at the Al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza, pictured on December 29 - AFP
Damage at the Al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza, pictured on December 29 - AFP
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Gaza Rescuers Say Israeli Strike on Hospital Kills 7

Damage at the Al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza, pictured on December 29 - AFP
Damage at the Al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza, pictured on December 29 - AFP

Gaza's civil defense agency said an airstrike hit a hospital Sunday, killing at least seven people, while Israel said it had targeted militants at the no longer functioning facility.

"Seven martyrs and several injured people, including critical cases, have been recovered following the Israeli strike on the upper floor of Al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza City," a civil defense agency statement said.

Israel's military said it had carried out a "precise strike" targeting members of Hamas's aerial defense unit operating from a "command and control center in a building that served in the past as the Al-Wafaa hospital".

The health ministry in Gaza said the hospital was still in use.

"The Al-Wafaa Hospital is partially operational, providing care to patients with physical disabilities," the ministry's director general, Munir al-Barsh, told AFP.

"The hospital had been rehabilitated and was getting ready to receive patients. Had it not been targeted by Israeli shelling today, it would have been ready to fully reopen in the next few days," he said.

The strike on Al-Wafaa Hospital came a day after the military ended a raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, an assault the World Health Organization reported left the facility empty of patients and staff.

The military also detained the hospital's chief, Hossam Abu Safiyeh, saying he was suspected of being a Hamas militant.

Since October 6, Israel's operations in the Palestinian territory have focused on northern Gaza, where it says its land and air offensive aims to prevent Hamas from regrouping.

However, the military has also carried out airstrikes and shelling in other areas of Gaza as it presses on with its campaign against the militants.