Yemeni vice president slams Houthis for blocking international peace efforts

The Iran-backed Houthis have incessantly launched ballistic missiles and drones targeting Yemeni and Saudi cities. (AFP file photo)
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Updated 04 September 2020
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Yemeni vice president slams Houthis for blocking international peace efforts

  • Houthis continue escalation of conflict in many regions of Yemen
  • Houthi elements abduct 11 individuals, including five children, in central province of Al-Bayda

DUBAI: Yemeni Vice President Ali Mohsen Saleh criticized the Iran-backed Houthi militia for blocking international efforts to implement lasting peace in the strife-ridden country.

Mohsen highlighted the Houthis’ continued escalation across the country, including the launch of ballistic missiles and drones against Yemeni and Saudi cities and the obstruction of initiatives to resolve the Safer oil tanker issue, state news agency Saba News reported.

The vice president made his comments after meeting with diplomats from the Netherlands and Sweden and discussing ongoing peace efforts ‘to achieve permanent peace aimed at helping the Yemeni people’ and ‘to reinstate the official government and eliminate Iran-allied Houthi’ militia.

The Yemeni leader praised the significant contribution of the Netherlands and Sweden to the peace efforts, with both countries reaffirming their support for the humanitarian and relief actions in Yemen.

Houthi elements meanwhile abducted 11 individuals, including five children, in the Al-Quraishiyah district of Yemen’s central province of Al-Bayda, the state news agency reported

The kidnapping is part of the campaign by Houthis against the people of Al-Shiryaf village and villages near it, a local source told Saba New.

The militia are accused of crimes and violations against the people at Al-Shiryaf village, including storming and shelling houses, killing and injuring people among them women and children, the source added.


Over 9,350 Palestinians held in Israeli detention as of January

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Over 9,350 Palestinians held in Israeli detention as of January

  • Detainees include 53 women and girls, 2 of whom are minors, and around 350 children held in Megiddo and Ofer prisons
  • Total number of administrative detainees is 3,385, while those classified by Israel as ‘unlawful combatants’ amount to 1,237

LONDON: The number of Palestinian detainees and prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers has surpassed 9,350 as of early January 2026, according to reports from Palestinian prisoners’ organizations.

According to the institutions, based on data released by the Israeli Prison Service, the detainees include 53 women and girls, two of whom are minors, and around 350 children held in Megiddo and Ofer prisons.

The total number of administrative detainees is 3,385, while those classified by Israel as “unlawful combatants” amount to 1,237. This figure does not account for all detainees from Gaza held in Israeli military camps under this classification, which also includes a few Arab detainees from Lebanon and Syria.

Prisoners’ institutions reported that approximately 50 percent of detainees are held without charges, either under administrative detention or classified as “unlawful combatants” by Israel.

Administrative detainees account for over 36 percent of all Palestinians in Israeli prisons. The classifications of administrative detention and “unlawful combatants” permit the indefinite detention of individuals without charge in military detention centers.