Yemen Reiterates Security, Military Preparedness to Confront Houthis

Yemen's Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik (Saba)
Yemen's Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik (Saba)
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Yemen Reiterates Security, Military Preparedness to Confront Houthis

Yemen's Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik (Saba)
Yemen's Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik (Saba)

The Yemeni government asserted the need to raise security and military readiness and called for popular support, hinting at resorting to "difficult choices" in response to Houthi terrorism.

Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik affirmed that the government would continue to take practical and firm measures to combat corruption, activate the rule of law, and reform state institutions within the comprehensive reform program.

Abdulmalik was speaking during a reception with the governors of the liberated governorates, where they discussed the coordination and integration of central and local measures to implement the National Defense Council's decision to classify the Houthi militia as a "terrorist group."

Saba news agency reported that the meeting was held via videoconferencing, with the participation of a member of the Presidential Leadership Council, the governor of Marib, Sultan al-Arada.

The meeting asserted the need to increase security and military readiness and effective communication with political forces and social figures to support "difficult choices" that the leadership and the government may resort to in dealing with Houthi threats.

They indicated that restoring the state and ending the Iranian-backed Houthi coup has become the inevitable option to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people, protect international navigation, and regional and global stability.

The meeting held the "terrorist Houthi militia" responsible for the dire consequences of its devastating escalation, including the repercussions on peace efforts.

According to official sources, the Prime Minister stressed that executive offices should adhere to the ministries' directives regarding the executive procedures for classifying the Houthi militia as a "terrorist group," following up on the implementation and submission of periodic reports.

The meeting reviewed the challenges and difficulties in Aden and the liberated governorates.

They agreed on a set of decisions, according to available priorities and capabilities, namely electricity and water, and taking firm measures to combat corruption.

The sources stated that Abdulmalik affirmed the government's full support to the local authorities and provided all possible support for the success of their efforts in improving services.

The state established a set of measures and options to deal with the repeated Houthi terrorist attacks on oil facilities, stressing the need to end the coup and ensure the restoration of the state.

The Prime Minister affirmed that the priority of the state and government, which will determine all political, diplomatic, economic, military, and security tracks, is securing oil exports, meeting the needs of the citizens, and maintaining the minimum level of rights and services.

He described the Houthi attacks on oil ports as a "declaration of open war," warning that this would impact the national economic institutions and the lives and livelihood of citizens.

Abdulmalik renewed his government's commitment to defending national sovereign interests and facilities, securing essential services and livelihoods, and limiting the repercussions of the systematic terrorist targeting of the oil sector and civilian facilities.

He praised the "pivotal role" of the local authorities. He noted the need to rebuild the state institutions and activate their work, considering that a critical factor in limiting corruption.

The Yemeni National Defense Council approved the classification of Houthi militia as a terrorist group following its escalation by targeting the oil export ports in Hadramout and Shabwa through booby-trapped drones.

The approved Yemeni measures include punishing Houthi leaders and individuals involved in a suspicious financing network to provide financial and service support to the Iran-backed group.



With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
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With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)

After weeks of Israeli bombardment left them with nowhere else to go, hundreds of Palestinians have ended up in a former Gaza prison built to hold murderers and thieves.

Yasmeen al-Dardasi said she and her family passed wounded people they were unable to help as they evacuated from a district in the southern city of Khan Younis towards its Central Correction and Rehabilitation Facility.

They spent a day under a tree before moving on to the former prison, where they now live in a prayer room. It offers protection from the blistering sun, but not much else.

Dardasi's husband has a damaged kidney and just one lung, but no mattress or blanket.

"We are not settled here either," said Dardasi, who like many Palestinians fears she will be uprooted once again.

Israel has said it goes out of its way to protect civilians in its war with the Palestinian group Hamas, which runs Gaza and led the attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that sparked the latest conflict.

Palestinians, many of whom have been displaced several times, say nowhere is free of Israeli bombardment, which has reduced much of Gaza to rubble.

An Israeli air strike killed at least 90 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in the Al-Mawasi area on July 13, the territory's health ministry said, in an attack that Israel said targeted Hamas' elusive military chief Mohammed Deif.

On Thursday, Gaza's health ministry said Israeli military strikes on areas in eastern Khan Younis had killed 14 people.

Entire neighborhoods have been flattened in one of the most densely populated places in the world, where poverty and unemployment have long been widespread.

According to the United Nations, nine in ten people across Gaza are now internally displaced.

Israeli soldiers told Saria Abu Mustafa and her family that they should flee for safety as tanks were on their way, she said. The family had no time to change so they left in their prayer clothes.

After sleeping outside on sandy ground, they too found refuge in the prison, among piles of rubble and gaping holes in buildings from the battles which were fought there. Inmates had been released long before Israel attacked.

"We didn't take anything with us. We came here on foot, with children walking with us," she said, adding that many of the women had five or six children with them and that water was hard to find.

She held her niece, who was born during the conflict, which has killed her father and brothers.

When Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7 they killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the air and ground offensive Israel launched in response, Palestinian health officials say.

Hana Al-Sayed Abu Mustafa arrived at the prison after being displaced six times.

If Egyptian, US and Qatari mediators fail to secure a ceasefire they have long said is close, she and other Palestinians may be on the move once again. "Where should we go? All the places that we go to are dangerous," she said.