MANILA: The United States is “keeping all our options open” when it comes to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the national security adviser said Monday, amid reports the outgoing Trump administration could tag the group as terrorists.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to the Philippines, Robert O’Brien criticized the Iran-backed Houthis of failing to engage in a “good-faith peace process” to end the conflict.
The Houthis are at the center of a flurry of diplomacy as the Trump administration, which has made isolating its arch-foe Tehran a centerpiece of its regional policy, enters its final weeks.
Washington was monitoring the situation “very closely,” said O’Brien in response to a question on whether the US would designate the Houthis a “terrorist organization.”
“We are constantly considering whether and who and how we should designate terrorist organizations,” O’Brien said.
“President Trump is still the president of the United States for the next 50 days and this will be something that is certainly on the agenda and we will have to see how that plays out,” he added.
“Right now we encourage the Houthis to expel the Iranians, to stop attacking neighbors and stop attacking people within Yemen and engage in a good-faith peace process with the other stakeholders in Yemen.”
The rebel group controls the capital Sanaa and much of the north after a grinding five-year war with government forces that has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The government is supported by a Saudi-led coalition, assisted by Western powers including the US.
The Houthis have reacted angrily to the prospect of the US designation, saying Trump had no right to make the ruling after failing to win a second term.
The possibility has also alarmed humanitarian groups who say it could cripple aid delivery and tip the country into famine.
US keeps ‘all options’ open for Yemen’s Houthis
https://arab.news/gyjua
US keeps ‘all options’ open for Yemen’s Houthis
- Adviser Robert O’Brien criticized the Iran-backed Houthis of failing to engage in a “good-faith peace process” to end the conflict
- “Right now we encourage the Houthis to expel the Iranians, to stop attacking neighbors and stop attacking people within Yemen"
Israel’s hostage forum releases AI-generated video of last Gaza captive
- The Gaza ceasefire, which came into effect in October, remains fragile with both sides alleging violations, and mediators fearing that Israel and Hamas alike are stalling
JERUSALEM: An Israeli group representing the families of Gaza hostages released on Tuesday an AI-generated video of Ran Gvili, the last captive whose body is still being held in the Palestinian territory.
The one-minute clip, created whole cloth using artificial intelligence, purports to depict Gvili as he sits in a Gaza tunnel and appeals to US President Donald Trump to help bring his body back to Israel.
“Mr President, I’m asking you to see this through: Please bring me home. My family deserves this. I deserve the right to be buried with honor in the land I fought for,” says the AI-generated image of Gvili.
Gvili was 24 at the time of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
He was an officer in Israel’s Yasam elite police unit and was on medical leave when he learnt of the attack.
He decided to leave his home and brought his gun to counter the Hamas militants.
He was shot in the fighting at the Alumim kibbutz before he was taken to Gaza.
Israeli authorities told Gvili’s parents in January 2024 that he had not survived his injuries.
The AI clip was released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main group representing those taken captive to Gaza.
The Forum said it was published with the approval of Gvili’s family.
“Seeing and hearing Rani speak in his own voice is both moving and heartbreaking. I would give anything to hear, see and hold him again,” Gvili’s mother Talik said, quoted by the Forum.
“But all I can do now is plead that they don’t move to the next phase of the agreement before bringing Rani home — because we don’t leave heroes behind.”
The Gaza ceasefire, which came into effect in October, remains fragile with both sides alleging violations, and mediators fearing that Israel and Hamas alike are stalling.
In the first stage, Palestinian militants were expected to return all of the remaining 48 living and dead hostages held in Gaza.
Since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10, militants have released 47 hostages.
In the next stages of the truce, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas, and an international stabilization force is to be deployed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet Trump in Florida later this month to discuss the second phase of the deal.
