Norway Gives Additional $13 Million in Aid to Palestinianshttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5321972-norway-gives-additional-13-million-aid-palestinians
Norway Gives Additional $13 Million in Aid to Palestinians
Palestinian motorists wait in line to cross the Beit Furik military checkpoint, east of Nablus, West Bank, 20 September 2026. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Norway's government said on Thursday it will give an additional 125 million Norwegian crowns ($13.17 million) in aid to the occupied Palestinian territories through the United Nations and the World Bank, including public sector budget support.
Norway recognized a Palestinian state in 2024 and chairs the international donor group for the Palestinians.
Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement the need for international support was "greater than ever.”
Eide also criticized Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.
Norway is providing around 1 billion Norwegian crowns in assistance to the Palestinians in 2026.
Yemen’s Houthis Blow Up Roads, Loot Homes in Rural Taizhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5332460-yemen%E2%80%99s-houthis-blow-roads-loot-homes-rural-taiz
Yemen’s Houthis Blow Up Roads, Loot Homes in Rural Taiz
A cargo truck overturns on a road between Lahj and Taiz after the Houthis blocked the main route (X)
Houthi militias are tightening their grip on rural communities in southwestern Yemen, blowing up roads, erecting military barricades and digging trenches as abductions, home raids and attacks on drinking water sources disrupt daily life and raise fears of fresh displacement.
The crackdown is concentrated in the districts of Al-Shamayatayn and Al-Mawasit in Taiz province and neighboring Al-Maqatirah in Lahj, a vast, densely populated area of strategic importance.
The measures contrast sharply with the Houthis' efforts to restore normal life, win public acceptance of their rule and recruit supporters and fighters through various incentives.
The Yemeni army's Tur al-Baha military command said last Saturday that eight of its soldiers had been killed in Houthi shelling in Al-Maqatirah, without providing further details.
Local sources said Houthi fighters in Al-Shamayatayn had fired an artillery shell at soldiers gathered at a military facility.
Residents of Al-Maqatirah told Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi gunmen had destroyed sections of roads connecting their villages to Al-Shamayatayn and the city of Al-Turbah.
Last Sunday, the Houthis blew up several culverts along the Hayjat al-Abd road, cutting off the main route linking Taiz to Lahj and Aden and forcing travelers and truck drivers onto the Al-Suha-Karbah road.
Five trucks carrying goods and essential supplies overturned on the alternative route on Tuesday, blocking traffic for hours and damaging large quantities of merchandise. The disruption came as areas under Houthi control faced severe food shortages.
The Yemeni government had improved the Al-Suha-Karbah road as an alternative to Hayjat al-Abd, which has repeatedly closed because of Houthi attacks and flooding. But its rugged terrain and narrow stretches make it unsuitable as a permanent replacement.
The Houthis resort to blowing up roads to impose collective punishment on the residents of Taiz and Lahj (X)
Villages cut off
The Houthis also blew up culverts along Naqil Musayr, a road connecting villages in western Al-Maqatirah to Al-Turbah, the administrative center of Al-Shamayatayn.
Residents must now walk to the city to shop and run errands. Vehicles can reach it only via the rugged Karbah road, a journey of at least three hours.
The group also blew up part of Naqil al-Khazrah, a stone stairway linking Al-Sharaf village and the Al-Jahili area in Al-Shamayatayn to villages in eastern Al-Maqatirah, forcing residents to take lengthy detours.
In Yemen, a naqil is a winding mountain route connecting higher elevations to foothills and valleys. Residents often build long stone stairways along these routes to make travel easier.
The blasts sent huge boulders crashing onto agricultural terraces, damaging farmland and nearby homes.
Residents of both districts told Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi fighters had erected barricades and military outposts, dug trenches along roads connecting the districts and positioned weapons toward Al-Maqatirah.
The military buildup has left residents fearing they could be targeted on any pretext.
The Houthis have advanced only a few kilometers into Al-Maqatirah along the Hayjat al-Abd road, securing control of the route and blowing up its culverts. They also control the district's eastern areas.
Observers say the group appears satisfied, for now, with its hold over the high ground in Al-Shamayatayn overlooking Al-Maqatirah. Those positions put the district within range of Houthi fire and allow the group to monitor nearby military movements.
The Houthis blew up several rural roads after residents spent many years building them (Facebook)
Abductions and home raids
The Houthis abducted about 20 people in Qadas, in Al-Mawasit district, after a vehicle belonging to the group's so-called "Preaching Committee" caught fire.
The committee works to persuade residents to embrace the Houthis' ideology and sectarian views.
The group accused residents of Al-Mukayshah village of setting the vehicle ablaze and launched a manhunt, tightening security across the area.
Dozens of gunmen were deployed and new checkpoints set up, where passersby were forced to open their phones for inspection and explain why they were traveling.
In Al-Alqamah, west of Al-Shamayatayn, Houthi fighters also looted homes abandoned by residents who had fled fighting following the group's advance from Al-Wazi'iyah district.
Residents said the fighters broke down doors and entered the homes, claiming to be searching for weapons and accusing their owners of collaborating with the Yemeni army and the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen's internationally recognized government.
But the raids went beyond searches. Fighters seized household belongings and loaded them onto vehicles before taking them out of the area.
The escalating restrictions, raids and abductions have heightened fears across rural Taiz that hundreds more residents could be forced to flee their homes for Lahj and Aden.
Israeli Fire Kills Three People in Gazahttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5332402-israeli-fire-kills-three-people-gaza
Palestinians gather around a burning a vehicle after it was hit by an Israeli strike, according to health officials, in Gaza City, October 22, 2026. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Palestinians gather around a burning a vehicle after it was hit by an Israeli strike, according to health officials, in Gaza City, October 22, 2026. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Israeli fire killed one person in a car in Gaza City and at least two others in other parts of the enclave on Thursday, health officials there said.
A crowd gathered around the burning wreckage in Gaza City's Tel Al-Hawa neighbourhood as orange-vested emergency workers sprayed it with water, photos from the scene showed, Reuters reported.
Another strike killed a Palestinian man on a bike in the southern city of Khan Younis, and gunfire killed a woman near the Jabalia refugee camp, in the north, the medics added.
The Israeli military said they had struck a Hamas militant in Khan Younis, without giving further details. The military added they were still checking reports of the strikes in Jabalia and Gaza City's Tel Al-Hawa suburb.
Israel, which says the Hamas militant group has been rearming and launching attacks in violation of a year-old ceasefire, has stepped up strikes on the group in recent weeks.
Hamas has denied trying to carry out attacks or rebuild its arsenal and accuses Israel of undermining the Gaza peace deal.
Last year's US-brokered ceasefire calls for eventual reconstruction of the territory. But little progress has been made as negotiators have failed to agree terms for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its troops.
Israeli airstrikes have continued. At least 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire, according to the territory's health officials, while Israel says four soldiers have been killed.
Palestinian authorities say more than 74,000 people have been killed in Israel's assault on Gaza, launched after Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Iraq Condemns Attacks on Saudi Arabia, Rejects Use of Its Territory to Target the Kingdomhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5332397-iraq-condemns-attacks-saudi-arabia-rejects-use-its-territory-target-kingdom
Iraq Condemns Attacks on Saudi Arabia, Rejects Use of Its Territory to Target the Kingdom
Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Dr. Fuad Hussein (Saudi Foreign Ministry)
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein condemned the recent terrorist attacks targeting areas of Saudi Arabia, reaffirming his government's rejection of attacks on civilians and civilian facilities and its refusal to allow Iraqi territory to be used as a launching point for any attacks or activities threatening the security of the Kingdom or other countries in the region.
His remarks came during a telephone call Thursday with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, during which the two ministers reviewed bilateral relations and ways to strengthen cooperation across various fields to advance mutual interests and enhance coordination in addressing current regional challenges.
The call also addressed the recent terrorist attacks targeting areas of Saudi Arabia.
Hussein reiterated the Iraqi government's condemnation of the attacks and its rejection of any actions that could endanger civilians or civilian infrastructure.
He stressed Iraq's firm opposition to the use of its territory for hostile acts targeting Saudi Arabia or undermining the Kingdom's security and stability.
For his part, Prince Faisal bin Farhan reaffirmed Saudi Arabia's support for the Iraqi government's efforts to reduce tensions and promote dialogue and cooperation with neighboring countries, contributing to greater security and stability across the region.
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