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EU Ambassadors to Visit Yemeni Interim Capital, Aden

EU Ambassadors to Visit Yemeni Interim Capital, Aden
    Aden, Riyadh- Abdulhadi Habtoor and Asharq Al-Awsat
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EU Ambassadors to Visit Yemeni Interim Capital, Aden

EU Ambassadors to Visit Yemeni Interim Capital, Aden

Yemen’s newly-formed government is urging the European Union (EU) to follow in Washington’s footsteps and label Iran-backed Houthi militias as terrorists. EU ambassadors are expected to visit Aden in a show of support for the cabinet after it had been targeted by a deadly Houthi attack.

Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik, in a statement on Monday, affirmed that the US administration's decision to designate Houthi militias as a foreign terrorist organization will serve as a constructive move that presses for peace in Yemen.

The EU must build on Washington’s move to advance the Yemeni peace process, he added.

Abdulmalik gave no details on the anticipated visit of EU ambassadors to the interim capital, Aden, but an EU diplomat confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the envoys were making arrangements for the trip.

“A specific date hasn't been set yet, but we're working on it,” the diplomat said.

Addressing fears of the Houthi designation negatively affecting humanitarian relief operations in Yemen, Abdulmalik vowed that the government is keen on reducing any impact.

The prime minister expressed the government’s commitment to protecting humanitarian work in Yemen during a videoconference meeting he held with the head of the EU mission in the war-torn country.

“We are fully aware of the fears that some express about the impact blacklisting the Houthis may have on the humanitarian, relief, and commercial work in Yemen,” he said, adding that the government has a “clear” vision on how to deal with any disruption.

The head of the EU mission, for their part, renewed their condemnation of the deadly attack that targeted Aden International airport last December shortly after a plane carrying the ministers of the newly formed government had landed.

EU ambassadors who attended the meeting also reiterated their support for the Yemeni internationally recognized government in the context of implementing practical plans that include a number of sectors and promote merging humanitarian and development aid, the official Saba News Agency reported.

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Red Cross Urges Unhindered Aid Access to Flood-hit and Freezing Gaza

Paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society protest over the deaths of their colleagues in the war between Israel and Hamas on February 11, 2024. Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images
Paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society protest over the deaths of their colleagues in the war between Israel and Hamas on February 11, 2024. Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images
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Red Cross Urges Unhindered Aid Access to Flood-hit and Freezing Gaza

Paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society protest over the deaths of their colleagues in the war between Israel and Hamas on February 11, 2024. Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images
Paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society protest over the deaths of their colleagues in the war between Israel and Hamas on February 11, 2024. Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images

The Red Cross called Wednesday for safe and unhindered access to Gaza to bring desperately needed aid into the war-torn Palestinian territory wracked by hunger and where babies are freezing to death.

Heavy rain and flooding have ravaged the makeshift shelters in Gaza, leaving thousands with up to 30 centimetres (one foot) of water inside their damaged tents, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

The dire weather conditions were "exacerbating the unbearable conditions" in Gaza, it said, pointing out that many families were left "clinging on to survival in makeshift camps, without even the most basic necessities, such as blankets".

Citing the United Nations, the IFRC highlighted the deaths of eight newborn babies who had been living in tents without warmth or protection from the rain and falling temperatures, AFP reported.

Those deaths "underscore the critical severity of the humanitarian crisis there", IFRC Secretary-General Jagan Chapagain said in a statement.

"I urgently reiterate my call to grant safe and unhindered access to humanitarians to let them provide life-saving assistance," he said.

"Without safe access -- children will freeze to death. Without safe access -- families will starve. Without safe access -- humanitarian workers can't save lives."

According to a UN count, more than 330 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza since Israel unleashed its war there.

Chapagain issued an "urgent plea to all the parties... to put an end to this human suffering. Now".

The IFRC said the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) was striving to provide emergency health services and supplies to people in Gaza, with an extra sense of urgency during the cold winter months.

But it warned that "the lack of aid deliveries and access is making providing adequate support all but impossible".

The IFRC stressed that the closure of the main Rafah border crossing last May had had a dramatic impact on the humanitarian situation.

"Only a trickle of aid is currently entering Gaza," it warned.

It also lamented the "continuing attacks on health facilities across the Gaza Strip", which it said meant people were unable to access the treatment they need.

"In the north of Gaza, there are now no functioning hospitals," it said.

The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity warned that access to healthcare had also become "seriously compromised" in parts of the West Bank. It was seeing "a dramatic decline in children's mental health", it added.

It pointed in a statement to the drastic increase in restrictions imposed by Israeli forces since the start of the war in Gaza. In particular, it highlighted the situation in the Jaber neighbourhood inside the H2 area of Hebron City, which is under full Israeli military control.

MSF, which said it had been forced to suspend its operations for five months from December 2023, urged Israeli forces to "stop implementing restrictive measures that impede the ability of Palestinians to access basic services, including medical care".

MSF project coordinator Chloe Janssen warned that "although we are now able to provide care in the MSF clinic in Jaber neighbourhood, access remains challenging as our staff can be searched and delayed at the checkpoints to enter the H2 area.

"Access to medical care should never be arbitrarily denied, impeded or blocked."