Yemenis Mock Houthis over Claims of Fighting Corruption

Workers carry bags of grain in a warehouse in Sanaa, amid a sharp rise in food prices (EPA)
Workers carry bags of grain in a warehouse in Sanaa, amid a sharp rise in food prices (EPA)
TT
20

Yemenis Mock Houthis over Claims of Fighting Corruption

Workers carry bags of grain in a warehouse in Sanaa, amid a sharp rise in food prices (EPA)
Workers carry bags of grain in a warehouse in Sanaa, amid a sharp rise in food prices (EPA)

Yemenis on social media have denounced Houthi Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein al-Ezzi for purchasing a massive villa in Sanaa for $1.5 million.

Video footage posted online showed one of the citizens mocking the state of poverty experienced by Yemenis in Houthi-run areas at a time when the militia leaders are splurging to buy real estate.

Houthis are notorious for funneling state funds to finance the activities of their leaders. The Iran-backed group has also monopolized different parts of the Yemeni economy, such as the oil industry and pesticide and medicine trade.

Facing popular discontent towards corruption practiced by Houthi leaders, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthi movement, allowed releasing excerpts from a recent report by the Houthi Oversight and Accountability Authority on Corruption.

According to the report, the head of the Sanaa Customs Authority, Youssef Zabara, was dismissed.

Zabara was accused of embezzling around a billion Yemeni rials.

However, five days after the dismissal, Zabara mobilized more than 300 customs employees and held a large farewell party, which ended with honoring him for his tenure and thanking him for his efforts.

The move surprised employees and citizens alike. Many wondered how an official who was dismissed because of corruption can get celebrated.

Zabara’s case reveals a lot of truth about Houthi claims of confronting corruption.

The Houthis had dismissed the head of the Customs Authority and the head of the Tax Authority just to quell popular resentment and cover up corruption, not fight it.

Moreover, Houthis appointed Abduljabbar Al-Jarmozi, otherwise known as Abu Younes, as the new Tax Authority head.

Al-Jarmozi had served as the Houthi undersecretary for the Hodeidah governorate.

The newly appointed official is known for doubling taxes on goods and agricultural products.

Houthis assigning Al-Jarmozi could be a sign of the group heading towards hiking tax rates in areas of its control.



New Gaza Aid Plans Would Increase Children’s Suffering, UNICEF Says 

Palestinian boys salvage bread from a makeshift bakery hit in Israeli strikes at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on May 8, 2025. (AFP)
Palestinian boys salvage bread from a makeshift bakery hit in Israeli strikes at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on May 8, 2025. (AFP)
TT
20

New Gaza Aid Plans Would Increase Children’s Suffering, UNICEF Says 

Palestinian boys salvage bread from a makeshift bakery hit in Israeli strikes at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on May 8, 2025. (AFP)
Palestinian boys salvage bread from a makeshift bakery hit in Israeli strikes at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on May 8, 2025. (AFP)

The United Nations Children's Fund on Friday criticized emerging plans to take over distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza on Thursday floated by both Israel and the United States, saying that they would increase suffering for children and families.

The US State Department earlier floated a solution that would allow delivery of food aid to Gaza was "steps away" and an announcement was coming shortly.

A proposal is circulating among the aid community for a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that would distribute food from four "Secure Distribution Sites", resembling plans announced by Israel earlier this week, which drew criticism that it would effectively worsen displacement among the Gaza population.

"It appears the design of a plan presented by Israel to the humanitarian community will increase ongoing suffering of children and families in the Gaza Strip," said UNICEF spokesperson James Elder.

Elder said his remarks also applied to the new foundation which he understood to be part of the same broad plan.

The aid community has already rejected any plans that would give occupying power Israel a role in distributing aid in Gaza.

However, the Foundation document said the sites would be "neutral" and US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Friday that Israel would not be involved in handing out aid.

Still, Elder said that the use of such hubs, which the foundation says will initially serve 300,000 people each, would create risks for children and families as they go to retrieve aid and would drive further displacement.

"The use of humanitarian aid as a bait to force displacement, especially from the north to the south will create this impossible choice: a choice between displacement and death," said Elder, who has been on several missions to Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began 19 months ago.

"It appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic."

He called instead for Israel to lift a more than two-month-long blockade on aid entries into the enclave, which is stoking widespread hunger and raising concerns about a spike in malnutrition-related deaths.

"There is a simple alternative, lift the blockade, let humanitarian aid in to save lives," he said.