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Yemen, Britain Warn against 1 Mn Barrel Oil Leak in Red Sea from Safer Tanker

The Safer oil tanker off Yemen's Red Sea coast, pictured in March 2005. (Getty Images)
The Safer oil tanker off Yemen's Red Sea coast, pictured in March 2005. (Getty Images)
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Yemen, Britain Warn against 1 Mn Barrel Oil Leak in Red Sea from Safer Tanker

The Safer oil tanker off Yemen's Red Sea coast, pictured in March 2005. (Getty Images)
The Safer oil tanker off Yemen's Red Sea coast, pictured in March 2005. (Getty Images)

Yemen’s Minister of Fish Wealth Fahd Kafayen warned that a marine environment disaster was imminent in the Red Sea over the continued erosion of the Safer floating oil storage and offloading vessel that is moored north of Hodeidah city.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the disaster was looming after the corrosion of the floating tank, which holds nearly a million barrels of crude oil.

He said that leak would lead to a marine disaster that would stretch across vast areas of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and reach neighboring regions. It will lead to massive destruction in marine life and the spill would be difficult to contain.

Its impact will last for several years, he warned.

The Safer is laden with some 1.1 million barrels of crude oil and has been stranded with no maintenance since early 2015, soon after the Iran-backed Houthi militias staged their coup in Yemen, leaving it to deteriorate and potentially allowing explosive gases to build up.

Kafayen urged the international community to immediately intervene and force the Houthis to allow experts to urgently resolve the problem before it gets even worse.

British Ambassador to Yemen Michael Aron echoed the plea, urging the militants to allow United Nations experts to access the tanker and assess the situation.

The experts should be allowed to prepare a report on the best ways to handle the problem, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The United Nations has warned that if the Safer ruptures, it could block maritime trade through the Red Sea, which accounts for up to 10 percent of world trade.

It could also threaten the daily passage of some 5.5 million barrels of oil, contaminate drinking water and damage the marine environment across the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and parts of Gulf waters.

The tanker holds a capacity of 3.5 million barrels. The Safer company used to perform regular maintenance on the vessel until the Houthis seized control of Hodeidah and prevented them from accessing it.

Some 176 workers used to operate the floating platform, but now there are only four.

According to information obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat, Safer was listed put up for auction by Japan in 1986. It was considered the world’s second largest vessel as the time. The Hunt Oil Company purchased it and turned it into a floating platform near Ras Issa in Hodeidah.

Yemen’s Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani had previously cited technical reports that warned that a leak would spill 138 million liters of oil in the Red Sea, which would be four times worse than the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaskan waters.

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Arab World

Lebanon Banking on US Pressure to Yield ‘Declaration of Intent’ after Negotiations with Israel

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun chairs a cabinet meeting on Thursday. (Lebanese Presidency)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun chairs a cabinet meeting on Thursday. (Lebanese Presidency)
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Lebanon Banking on US Pressure to Yield ‘Declaration of Intent’ after Negotiations with Israel

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun chairs a cabinet meeting on Thursday. (Lebanese Presidency)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun chairs a cabinet meeting on Thursday. (Lebanese Presidency)

Lebanon is counting on US pressure to push Israel to soften its position after the third day of the fifth round of Lebanese-Israeli negotiations in Washington failed to yield a breakthrough.

The two delegations failed to agree on a declaration of intent, prompting the US State Department to extend the round by one day and schedule a fourth session for Friday.

The extension came after Lebanon’s cabinet on Thursday approved a mandate for the negotiating delegation to continue the talks.

The decision was backed unanimously by ministers, including those aligned with Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, even as the “Shiite duo” continues to reject direct negotiations with Israel.

Differences remain

Thursday’s talks were the longest since the fifth round began, lasting 11 hours. They had been expected to end with a news conference, and journalists were invited in the evening.

But the event was canceled without explanation before the US State Department announced that negotiations would continue for another day, signaling that major differences remained.

Sources familiar with the talks said the extension followed a failure to agree on the final wording of the declaration of intent, despite discussions having reached the stage of detailed drafting.

The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Lebanon is insisting the declaration include core principles: affirmation of Lebanese sovereignty, recognition of the Lebanese army’s role in extending state authority, and a clear link between any field arrangements or “model areas” and a full Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory, along with the return of displaced people.

Israel, the sources said, remains firm. It is demanding security guarantees to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its military infrastructure and is refusing to include any clear commitment to a full withdrawal from Lebanese territory in the declaration of intent.

(2L/R) Israel's Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, State Department Chief of Staff Daniel Holler, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh attend a meeting between Israeli and Lebanese delegations hosted by the United States at the State Department in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2026. (AFP)

The sources said the main sticking point is the issue of “model areas.” They said Israel had retreated from an earlier approval of the proposal and is now demanding that the Lebanese army first deploy in areas outside the yellow line, meaning areas still under Lebanese state control north of the Litani River.

The aim, the sources said, is for the army to impose control there and disarm Hezbollah. Lebanon rejects that approach and insists that any model areas must first be tied to Israel’s withdrawal from the territory it occupies.

The sources also pointed with concern to security developments on Friday in the south, where Israeli incursions continued. They cited indications of attempts to expand the yellow line on the ground.

“All of this makes Lebanon even more determined to link any understanding to a full Israeli withdrawal,” one source said.

Lebanon banks on US pressure

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said Thursday that progress had been made in the negotiations and suggested that a declaration of intent could be reached. But that has not happened, with differences between the two delegations still unresolved.

Lebanon is now counting on further US pressure to push Israel to ease its stance and accept the Lebanese proposal in Friday’s session, particularly on withdrawal and the model areas. The sources said Rubio was expected to follow the talks from Washington after returning there.

In parallel, Lebanon’s cabinet approved on Thursday a decision “taking note” of the negotiations underway in Washington.

The decision said the cabinet took note of the mandate granted by the president, in agreement with the prime minister, to the Lebanese negotiating delegation, authorizing it to take the necessary steps to achieve the desired outcome under the delegation's supervision.

The sources said the mandate allows the Lebanese delegation to sign in Washington any agreement or declaration of intent that may be reached, but does not bring it into force. Implementation would still depend on cabinet approval.

They stressed that the delegation is not acting independently. President Joseph Aoun is continuously following the talks and issuing instructions to ensure the delegation remains committed to Lebanon’s core principles throughout the negotiations.

Arab World

Lebanon Welcomes European Push to Form Int’l Coalition to Succeed UNIFIL

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. (EPA)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. (EPA)
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Lebanon Welcomes European Push to Form Int’l Coalition to Succeed UNIFIL

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. (EPA)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. (EPA)

Lebanon welcomed a French-Italian effort to form a multinational coalition that would replace the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) after its mission ends in southern Lebanon.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Lebanon looked forward to “any international formula that strengthens the capabilities of its armed forces and safeguards its territorial integrity.”

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the United States “has not vetoed” the creation of an international force to succeed UNIFIL, whose mandate expires at the end of this year.

Salam told Asharq Al-Awsat that Washington had not yet taken a position on the idea of forming the force.

He said the United States had no problem with the proposed international force, but “has a problem with international peacekeeping forces, which have become a major financial burden on the international organization and donor states in return for weak results in maintaining international peace, with some turning into forces that preserve the status quo and prolong crises.”

He said Lebanon had told the UN and friendly countries that it still needed an international force in the south because of the sensitivity of the situation.

He said the force would carry out essential tasks Lebanon needs, chiefly monitoring, reporting on developments to international organizations, and serving as a channel of communication with Israel after decades of wars, hostility, and tension.

Salam said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had visited Lebanon earlier this year and later sent a representative to discuss the issue before submitting three proposals to the Security Council to create the new force.

He said the proposals “will, of course, be open to amendment” so they can fit any security arrangements included in an agreement that may be reached by Lebanese-Israeli negotiations.

French President Emmanuel Macron said after talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday: “We want to launch a coalition for the post-UNIFIL arrangement, obviously in coordination with the European Union and the United Nations, to strengthen Lebanon’s sovereignty and that of its armed forces.”

Aoun voiced appreciation for the Italian-French emphasis on the need to avoid “leaving any dangerous vacuum in the post-UNIFIL phase.”

He said Lebanon looked forward to “any international formula that strengthens the capabilities of its armed forces, safeguards its territorial integrity and prevents its land from becoming an arena for escalation or regional disputes.”

UNIFIL’s mandate expires at the end of December under a Security Council resolution adopted in August 2025 under US pressure.

Guterres stressed earlier this month the “necessity” of maintaining a UN military presence in Lebanon after UNIFIL’s mission ends, an option feared likely to face opposition from the United States and Israel.

In a report to the Security Council, Guterres proposed three options, ranging from about 2,000 to more than 5,500 UN troops, to monitor the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and support the Lebanese Armed Forces.

France is one of the biggest contributors to the peacekeeping force, which currently includes about 7,500 troops from nearly 50 countries deployed in southern Lebanon near the Blue Line.

The force has been deployed since 1978 in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel, but its presence has not been enough to prevent repeated rounds of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Arab World

Israel Prosecutors Charge Six Settlers with ‘Terror Offenses’ After West Bank Attack

Israeli bulldozers guarded by Israeli soldiers demolish the home belonging to the Palestinian al-Atrash family, citing the lack of a building permit, in the village of Qilqes, a few kilometers from the Israeli settlement of Beit Hagai, just south of the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Hebron on June 23, 2026. (AFP)
Israeli bulldozers guarded by Israeli soldiers demolish the home belonging to the Palestinian al-Atrash family, citing the lack of a building permit, in the village of Qilqes, a few kilometers from the Israeli settlement of Beit Hagai, just south of the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Hebron on June 23, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Prosecutors Charge Six Settlers with ‘Terror Offenses’ After West Bank Attack

Israeli bulldozers guarded by Israeli soldiers demolish the home belonging to the Palestinian al-Atrash family, citing the lack of a building permit, in the village of Qilqes, a few kilometers from the Israeli settlement of Beit Hagai, just south of the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Hebron on June 23, 2026. (AFP)
Israeli bulldozers guarded by Israeli soldiers demolish the home belonging to the Palestinian al-Atrash family, citing the lack of a building permit, in the village of Qilqes, a few kilometers from the Israeli settlement of Beit Hagai, just south of the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Hebron on June 23, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli prosecutors filed charges against six people, including for "acts of terrorism", after a settler attack on a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank that included the torching of a mosque, police said Friday.

Palestinians frequently complain that violent acts by settlers in the West Bank often go unpunished.

Indictments have become more commonplace along with the rising frequency of settler attacks, but rights groups say this has not led to greater safety for Palestinians.

"Six indictments were filed for acts of terrorism, arson, sabotage, and violent rioting in the village of Deir Dibwan out of a nationalistic motive," police said in a statement, referring to a village in the central West Bank.

On June 14, Israeli settlers attacked two West Bank villages including Deir Dibwan, with the military saying at the time that security forces had been dispatched to several locations "following reports of arson and violent riots carried out by Israeli civilians".

Police said the investigation revealed that settlers had coordinated to enter the village together, masked and carrying flammable substances, tear gas and a knife.

"Upon entering the village, they carried out a series of terrorist acts, which included setting fire to vegetation, torching vehicles, damaging the local mosque, attacking residents' homes, and throwing stones at vehicles and inhabited houses," the statement read.

The police said the latest move by the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office marked the 51st indictment this year "against individuals involved in extreme violence."

More than 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank -- excluding annexed east Jerusalem -- in settlements and outposts illegal under international law.

Three million Palestinians also live there.

Israel has occupied the Palestinian territory since 1967 and violence has escalated there since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.

The number of settler attacks has risen sharply in 2026 to an average of six per day, according to the UN.