Yemen Forms ‘National Shield Forces’ Headed by Al-Alimi

Al-Alimi upon his return to Aden on Saturday. (Saba)
Al-Alimi upon his return to Aden on Saturday. (Saba)
TT

Yemen Forms ‘National Shield Forces’ Headed by Al-Alimi

Al-Alimi upon his return to Aden on Saturday. (Saba)
Al-Alimi upon his return to Aden on Saturday. (Saba)

Chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi issued a presidential decree to form the “National Shield Forces,” a military force under his direct command.

The decree is part of efforts, carried out by the higher military and security commission, to restructure the many military formations in Yemen and bring them under the Defense Ministry.

The National Shield Forces will act as a reserve force that answers to the commander of the armed forces, al-Alimi.

Al-Alimi will determine the number of the members of the force, its duties and area of operations.

Al-Alimi had returned to the Yemeni interim capital Aden from Riyadh. He has been away from Aden for nearly 50 days.

In official statements, he underscored the keenness of the PLC and government in committing to their pledges to the Yemeni people.

The pledges include working from inside Yemen, rebuilding state institutions, improving living and economic conditions and consolidating Yemen’s standing in its regional and international surroundings.

Al-Alimi said the new year will witness the laying of the foundation stone of several service and development projects with the support of the Arab coalition that is led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

He expressed his gratitude to the coalition and donor countries that “constantly respond” to Yemen’s appeals to ease the humanitarian suffering of its people.

He blamed the dire humanitarian crisis on the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist militias.



Fears for Gaza Hospitals as Fuel and Aid Run Low

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
TT

Fears for Gaza Hospitals as Fuel and Aid Run Low

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled.

The warning came a day after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant more than a year into the Gaza war.

The United Nations and others have repeatedly decried humanitarian conditions, particularly in northern Gaza, where Israel said Friday it had killed two commanders involved in Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war.

Gaza medics said an overnight Israeli raid on the cities of Beit Lahia and nearby Jabalia resulted in dozens killed or missing.

Marwan al-Hams, director of Gaza's field hospitals, told reporters all hospitals in the Palestinian territory "will stop working or reduce their services within 48 hours due to the occupation's (Israel's) obstruction of fuel entry".

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of 80 patients, including 8 in the intensive care unit" at Kamal Adwan hospital, one of just two partly operating in northern Gaza.

Kamal Adwan director Hossam Abu Safia told AFP it was "deliberately hit by Israeli shelling for the second day" Friday and that "one doctor and some patients were injured".

Late Thursday, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Muhannad Hadi, said: "The delivery of critical aid across Gaza, including food, water, fuel and medical supplies, is grinding to a halt."

He said that for more than six weeks, Israeli authorities "have been banning commercial imports" while "a surge in armed looting" has hit aid convoys.

Issuing the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, the Hague-based ICC said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe they bore "criminal responsibility" for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and crimes against humanity including over "the lack of food, water, electricity and fuel, and specific medical supplies".

At least 44,056 people have been killed in Gaza during more than 13 months of war, most of them civilians, according to figures from Gaza's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.