75 Yemeni Artifacts Seized During Smuggling Attempt to US

Yemeni Information Minister Moammer al-Eryani during his participation at the Conference of Arab Culture Ministers in Riyadh (Saba)
Yemeni Information Minister Moammer al-Eryani during his participation at the Conference of Arab Culture Ministers in Riyadh (Saba)
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75 Yemeni Artifacts Seized During Smuggling Attempt to US

Yemeni Information Minister Moammer al-Eryani during his participation at the Conference of Arab Culture Ministers in Riyadh (Saba)
Yemeni Information Minister Moammer al-Eryani during his participation at the Conference of Arab Culture Ministers in Riyadh (Saba)

The US authorities said 75 stolen Yemeni artifacts were seized during an attempt to smuggle them to the US.

This coincides with the Yemeni government's call for Arab backup to preserve the Yemeni heritage and restore stolen artifacts.

Ambassador of Yemen to the United States Mohammed Al-Hadhrami commended the efforts of the US Department of State and relevant authorities to activate the decision to protect the Yemeni heritage and ban the trafficking and smuggling of Yemeni antiquities.

During his meeting with Assistant Secretary of State Lee Satterfield, he said that the Yemeni government appreciates the US security bodies’ efforts that led to seizing the antiquities.

This contributes to raising awareness, protecting the Yemeni heritage, and combatting the smuggling and trafficking of Yemeni antiquities in the future, according to Hadhrami.

Saba news agency cited Hadhrami as saying that the Yemeni side looks forward to more coordination in this regard in addition to benefiting from the support programs offered by Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation.

The AFCP supports the preservation of archaeological sites, historic buildings and monuments, museum collections, and forms of traditional cultural expression.

For her part, Satterfield welcomed the rapid and serious responsiveness of the Yemeni government, hailing the ongoing coordination, especially intensifying efforts to combat Yemeni antiquities smuggling and trafficking to the US.

She affirmed the US continuous support to Yemen, namely in protecting its heritage, as well as the educational programs and scholarships available for developing countries.

Meanwhile, Yemeni Information Minister Moammer al-Eryani called on his Arab counterparts, the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization, and similar organizations to reinforce coordination in the protection of cultural heritage in Yemen.

The call was made at the 23rd Conference of Arab Culture Ministers held in Riyadh represented by the Saudi Ministry of Culture in cooperation with the Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization.

The Yemeni minister wondered how the future of the nation will be if tens of thousands of youths, if not hundreds or even millions, are deprived of education and getting recruited by extremist terrorist groups.

Eryani highlighted the terrorist Houthi practices, including destroying and looting the Yemeni cultural heritage intentionally and systematically.

In the past eight years, Yemen has undergone the biggest and most hideous deception in its modern and recent history by a terrorist group, the minister noted. He described this group as an “obeying tool” for the Iranian regime.

Eryani accused the Houthis of taking heritage sites and museums as military sites and weaponry warehouses.



Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Man in West Bank

A picture taken in the village of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah city shows the nearby Israeli Shilo settlement in the background, in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A picture taken in the village of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah city shows the nearby Israeli Shilo settlement in the background, in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
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Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Man in West Bank

A picture taken in the village of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah city shows the nearby Israeli Shilo settlement in the background, in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A picture taken in the village of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah city shows the nearby Israeli Shilo settlement in the background, in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Palestinian authorities said Israeli troops killed a 55-year-old man in the north of the occupied West Bank on Thursday -- an incident the Israeli army said involved a stabbing attack.

The Ramallah-based health ministry said the body in charge of coordination with Israel informed it that soldiers "shot and killed" the man in Rummanah, near Jenin, in the morning.

The Israeli military said separately that troops deployed in the village "neutralised" a man after he stabbed and "moderately injured" a soldier, AFP reported.

The army generally uses the term "neutralised" after killing someone.

Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has soared since the Hamas attack of October 2023.

A 12-year-old Palestinian boy died Thursday of wounds suffered during an army raid near the West Bank town of Nablus last week, the health ministry said.

Since October 7, 2023, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 951 Palestinians, including many militants, the ministry said.

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Over the same period, at least 35 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to Israeli figures.