Life Returns to Yemen's Shabwah

Forces deployed at the Al-Saadi crossing in Shabwah. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Forces deployed at the Al-Saadi crossing in Shabwah. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
20

Life Returns to Yemen's Shabwah

Forces deployed at the Al-Saadi crossing in Shabwah. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Forces deployed at the Al-Saadi crossing in Shabwah. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Life has again been breathed in Yemen's Shabwah province after its liberation from the Iran-backed Houthi militias.

The government had confirmed earlier this week that the province was liberated by the Giants Brigades, army and tribal fighters, and the support of the Saudi-led Arab coalition.

Asharq Al-Awsat toured the province, which has twice defeated the Houthis, where it met with its people and witnessed firsthand the scars of war and destruction left by the militias.

The journey from the provincial capital Ataq to the liberated districts in the northwest took about three hours.

The main highway leading to the districts is peppered with signs warning of landmines that have planted on the side of the road by the Houthis.

The locals said the militias have planted the explosives everywhere in order to cause as much damage to the people and the Giants Brigades as possible. Some mines have been planted less than half a meter from the road that is traversed by hundreds of people a day, they warned.

We eventually reached the strategic Al-Saadi crossing that leads to the Marib province. Units of the Giants Brigades were deployed at the crossing point to continue securing it.

Signs of the battles with the Houthis were evident in the buildings and some gas stations, but otherwise calm prevailed. After stopping to take photos, the members of the Brigades urged us to continue our journey to avoid being targeted by Houthi rockets or drones.

We moved on to the al-Naqoub region where life has returned to normal. The markets were bustling and government offices were operational. We then reached Bayhan al-Ulya, Shabwah's most populous city.

Al-Ulya was crowded, the markets lively and traffic was normal with civilian and military vehicles. The Giants Brigades were securing the city and the people were greeting and thanking them for liberating the region.

Saleh Ali Marjan, a resident of Bayhan al-Ulya, said the Giants Brigades' liberation of the three Shabwah districts in such a short time was remarkable.

Of the Houthis, he told Asharq Al-Awsat: "They fought us in everything, even the currency approved by the legitimacy. They barred us from using it. We suffered a lot and Bayhan still needs help."

He hailed the role of the Arab coalition in supporting the Giants Brigades in the battles. "The coalition strikes were effective and accurate against the Houthis."

Another resident, Saleh Ahmed Jaber said the liberation of the district from Houthi clutches is a good step.

"This is a precursor to the liberation of the country," he predicted.

"We now feel safe and secure with the deployment of the Giants Brigades. The Arab coalition jets were effective in regions outside the city and in pursuing the Houthis," he remarked.

As we toured the city, we noted the Houthi slogans that were scrawled on several stores and buildings, even mosques. Many read "Boycott American products", "Death to America", and "Death to Israel".

Resident Ahmed al-Jaashani said the liberation has revived the region after the oppression the people witnessed by the Houthis.

"Everything had come to a halt. Now, life has returned to normal. We thank God for the Giants Brigades," he added.

In the city's main market, we encountered some children. We asked them why they weren't in school, they replied that classes had been suspended due to the war.

"We will return to school soon. The defeat of the Houthis is now the most important thing," they said.



Iran-Israel War: A Lifeline for Netanyahu?

FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony on the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony on the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
TT
20

Iran-Israel War: A Lifeline for Netanyahu?

FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony on the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony on the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)

The Iran-Israel war has helped strengthen Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu domestically and overseas, just as his grip on power looked vulnerable.

On the eve of launching strikes on Iran, his government looked to be on the verge of collapse, with a drive to conscript ultra-Orthodox Jews threatening to scupper his fragile coalition.

Nearly two years on from Hamas's unprecedented attack in 2023, Netanyahu was under growing domestic criticism for his handling of the war in Gaza, where dozens of hostages remain unaccounted for, said AFP.

Internationally too, he was coming under pressure including from longstanding allies, who since the war with Iran began have gone back to expressing support.

Just days ago, polls were predicting Netanyahu would lose his majority if new elections were held, but now, his fortunes appear to have reversed, and Israelis are seeing in "Bibi" the man of the moment.

– 'Reshape the Middle East' –

For decades, Netanyahu has warned of the risk of a nuclear attack on Israel by Iran -- a fear shared by most Israelis.

Yonatan Freeman, a geopolitics expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said Netanyahu's argument that the pre-emptive strike on Iran was necessary draws "a lot of public support" and that the prime minister has been "greatly strengthened".

Even the opposition has rallied behind him.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is my political rival, but his decision to strike Iran at this moment in time is the right one," opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote in a Jerusalem Post op-ed.

A poll published Saturday by a conservative Israeli channel showed that 54 percent of respondents expressed confidence in the prime minister.

The public had had time to prepare for the possibility of an offensive against Iran, with Netanyahu repeatedly warning that Israel was fighting for its survival and had an opportunity to "reshape the Middle East."

During tit-for-tat military exchanges last year, Israel launched air raids on targets in Iran in October that are thought to have severely damaged Iranian air defenses.

Israel's then-defense minister Yoav Gallant said the strikes had shifted "the balance of power" and had "weakened" Iran.

"In fact, for the past 20 months, Israelis have been thinking about this (a war with Iran)," said Denis Charbit, a political scientist at Israel's Open University.

Since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Netanyahu has ordered military action in Gaza, against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, as well as targets in Syria where long-time leader Bashar al-Assad fell in December last year.

"Netanyahu always wants to dominate the agenda, to be the one who reshuffles the deck himself -- not the one who reacts -- and here he is clearly asserting his Churchillian side, which is, incidentally, his model," Charbit said.

"But depending on the outcome and the duration (of the war), everything could change, and Israelis might turn against Bibi and demand answers."

– Silencing critics –

For now, however, people in Israel see the conflict with Iran as a "necessary war," according to Nitzan Perelman, a researcher specialized in Israel at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France.

"Public opinion supports this war, just as it has supported previous ones," she added.

"It's very useful for Netanyahu because it silences criticism, both inside the country and abroad."

In the weeks ahead of the Iran strikes, international criticism of Netanyahu and Israel's military had reached unprecedented levels.

After more than 55,000 deaths in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, and a blockade that has produced famine-like conditions there, Israel has faced growing isolation and the risk of sanctions, while Netanyahu himself is the subject of an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.

But on Sunday, two days into the war with Iran, the Israeli leader received a phone call from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, while Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has held talks with numerous counterparts.

"There's more consensus in Europe in how they see Iran, which is more equal to how Israel sees Iran," explained Freeman from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Tuesday that Israel was doing "the dirty work... for all of us."

The idea that a weakened Iran could lead to regional peace and the emergence of a new Middle East is appealing to the United States and some European countries, according to Freeman.

But for Perelman, "Netanyahu is exploiting the Iranian threat, as he always has."