CHICAGO: The new US administration has condemned the “reprehensible actions” of Houthi terror groups in Yemen, warning that Washington will continue to “keep up the pressure” on the militia’s leadership.
US efforts to end the war in Yemen did not signal a change in its attitude toward the Houthis, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
In a wide-ranging press briefing on Thursday, Price also said that the US opposes “unilateral” action by both sides in the Palestine-Israel conflict and that President Joe Biden was “moving forward” on plans to restore aid to the Palestinians.
Biden lifted the “terrorist” designation imposed on the Houthis by former President Donald Trump during his final days in office. But Price reiterated that sanctions on key Houthi leaders and groups will remain.
“We will continue to keep up the pressure on the Houthis. If the Houthi leadership is under any illusion that the intent to revoke this designation suggests that we are going to let up the pressure on them, they are sorely mistaken,” he said.
“We will continue to have designations on the Houthi leaders Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, Abd Al-Khaliq Badr Al-Din Al-Houthi and Abdullah Yahya Al-Hakim. They will all remain designated under both UN sanctions and our sanction, which is related to acts that threaten the peace, security or stability of Yemen.”
Price said that the Biden administration continues to support Saudi Arabia. He condemned the recent Houthi attack on Abha airport and warned against any attacks on US sites, sentiments he said that have been expressed previously by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
“When the secretary communicated to Congress his intent to remove the designation of Ansar Allah as a broad movement, we made clear that it has nothing to do with our view of the Houthis and their reprehensible conduct,” Price said.
“We spoke forcefully and in no uncertain terms about their attacks on our partner Saudi Arabia, their kidnapping of American citizens and their malign influence throughout the region.”
Price said the administration’s intent to revoke the “broad umbrella designation” is based on “those humanitarian implications, the fact that as a country we do not want to do anything that would worsen the plight of the millions of Yemenis who live under Houthi control.”
He added: “Our goal is to support the diplomatic process, to move that forward under the auspices of the UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths.
“Our goal and our plan is to help our Saudi partners defend themselves. And we intend to take prudent steps like this to alleviate or at least not worsen the suffering of the Yemeni civilians who live under Houthi control.”
On the Palestine-Israel issue, Price defended Blinken’s refusal to respond to questions regarding Israeli control of East Jerusalem.
“Well, this has been the longstanding policy of the US, and I think this is what the secretary was referring to,” he said.
“The ultimate status of Jerusalem is, in fact, a final status issue which will need to be resolved by the parties in the context of direct negotiations. That is not a change to longstanding policy.”
Asked about the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Price said that the principle of opposing unilateral actions remained a core of the Biden administration’s policies to bring peace between the two sides.
“We believe it’s critical for Israel and the Palestinian Authority to refrain from unilateral steps that exacerbate tensions and undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution,” Price said.
“What we have said — and this is the principle that is at play — is that we encourage Israel and the Palestinians to avoid unilateral steps that put the prospects of a two-state solution further out of reach.”
US maintains sanctions on Houthis after ‘reprehensible’ actions
https://arab.news/2wfpt
US maintains sanctions on Houthis after ‘reprehensible’ actions
- Three Houthi leaders to remain under US sanctions: Blinken
- Spokesman Price said the Biden administration continues to support Saudi Arabia
White House: Qatar and Egypt plan talks with Hamas on Gaza ceasefire
- Israel has killed at least 37,296 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry
- Sullivan said he had spoken briefly to one of the main interlocutors, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and that they would speak again about Gaza on Sunday while both are in Switzerland for the Ukraine conference
BUERGENSTOCK, Switzerland: White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Saturday that mediators for Qatar and Egypt plan to engage Hamas militants soon to see if there is a way to push ahead with a Gaza ceasefire proposal offered by US President Joe Biden.
Sullivan spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a Ukraine peace summit and was asked about diplomatic efforts to get an agreement for Hamas to release some hostages held since Oct. 7 in exchange for a ceasefire lasting at least six weeks.
Sullivan said he had spoken briefly to one of the main interlocutors, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and that they would speak again about Gaza on Sunday while both are in Switzerland for the Ukraine conference.
Hamas has welcomed the ceasefire proposal, but insists any agreement must secure an end to the war, a demand Israel still rejects. Israel described Hamas’s response to the new US peace proposal as total rejection.
Sullivan said that US officials have taken a close look at Hamas’s response.
“We think some of the edits are not unexpected and can be managed. Some of them are inconsistent both with what President Biden laid out and what the UN Security Council endorsed. And we are having to deal with that reality,” he said.
He said US officials believe there remains an avenue to an agreement and that the next step will be for Qatari and Egyptian mediators to talk to Hamas and “go through what can be worked with and what really can’t be worked with.”
“We anticipate a back-and-forth between the mediators and Hamas. We’ll see where we stand at that point. We will keep consulting with the Israelis and then hopefully at some point next week we’ll be able to report to you where we think things stand and what we see as being the next step to try to bring this to closure,” he said.
Beirut airport busy with Eid visitors despite tense security situation
- Motorcyclist killed in Israeli drone strike as Hezbollah keeps up retaliatory attacks
- Festival brings challenges for Lebanese forced to flee their homes
BEIRUT: Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport witnessed an influx of arrivals on Saturday as Lebanese expatriates and tourists ignored the hostilities in the south and traveled to celebrate the Eid Al-Adha holiday.
European embassies had earlier issued warnings against visiting Lebanon because of the tense security situation, but these failed to deter expatriates and visitors, mainly from Iraq and Egypt, arriving for Eid.
On the eve of the holiday, there was a noticeable discrepancy in the prices of sacrificial animals in the Lebanese market, along with an unjustified increase in meat prices.
Majed Eid, secretary of the Syndicate of Butchers, Importers, and Traders of Live Livestock, said that imports of sacrificial animals from abroad had fallen this year compared with previous years.
The security situation in the Tyre area has led to reduced shopping activities as Eid approaches, despite the substantial influx of expatriates who typically boost commercial and economic activity there.
Tyre Traders Association Secretary Ghazwan Halawani said that the preparations for Eid seemed ordinary, with no noticeable improvement in commercial activity, sales, or market visitors.
He attributed the decline to anxiety over military operations on the border and Israeli attacks on civilians.
On the eve of Eid Al-Adha, thousands of families from the southern region headed to their villages near the border despite the hostilities.
Issa, a butcher, planned to spend the holiday with his family, even though his area had been sporadically shelled in the past few months.
“Nothing will happen to us except what God has destined for us,” he said.
The Eid holiday will be challenging for the people of the south, especially those who fled their villages eight months ago.
Eid Al-Adha presents significant challenges for the displaced southerners, with almost 100,000 people forced to leave their villages.
Nabatieh Gov. Hwaida Turk told Arab News that 65 towns in Nabatieh Governorate had been subjected to “systematic shelling and fires due to Israeli attacks.”
Some towns were almost destroyed, she said.
Turk said that residents of the front-line towns, especially in the Marjayoun and Hasbaya areas, did not return for Eid.
However, villages and towns to the rear are crowded with displaced people alongside their original inhabitants.
She said the people in the southern region tried to celebrate Eid with hope despite the difficult economic conditions.
Hezbollah kept up retaliatory attacks on Israel on Saturday, days after an airstrike killed one of its commanders.
Aerial attacks on both sides escalated, with Hezbollah saying that it carried out an attack “with a fleet of suicide drones on the Khirbet Maer base, destroying part of it.”
The attack was in response to the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander, Sami Hassan Taleb, nicknamed Abu Taleb, along with three others, in an Israeli attack on their location in Jouaiyya several days ago.
Israeli Army Radio reported that a fire erupted in the Goren settlement in western Galilee after several Hezbollah drones struck the area.
As part of the escalation, Hezbollah targeted the headquarters of the air surveillance and operations management unit at the Meron base.
Israeli media outlets said that “two anti-armor missiles launched from the Meron base were targeted.”
Hezbollah said that it struck a group of Israeli soldiers at the Hadab Yaron site with a missile, killing or injuring several.
An Israeli military drone strike early on Saturday killed a motorcyclist at the Bint Jbeil–Maroun Ras intersection. Another person was injured in the resulting fire.
The outskirts of Deir Mimas and the Aaziyyeh Hill were subject to phosphorus shelling, causing fires to erupt in forests.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee claimed that “an air force plane targeted a Hezbollah vandal in Aitaroun,” adding that “the Israeli army shelled the area with artillery.”
Palestinian teenager killed in West Bank raid
- Israel has killed at least 37,296 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, as an army official confirmed troops opened fire during a raid.
Sultan Abdul Rahman Khatatbeh, 16, was killed by Israeli fire in the northern West Bank town of Beit Furik, the ministry said in a statement published on Facebook.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that two others were injured when Israeli forces stormed the town east of Nablus, “firing live bullets at local residents.”
HIGHLIGHTS
• Sultan Abdul Rahman Khatatbeh, 16, was killed by Israeli fire in the northern West Bank town of Beit Furik.
• Two others were injured when Israeli forces stormed the town east of Nablus, ‘firing live bullets at local residents.’
An Israeli military official said that troops were operating in the Nablus area when “dozens of suspects hurled rocks at Israeli security forces, who responded with riot dispersal means and live fire.”
“Hits were identified,” the official said.
The West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has seen a surge in violence for more than a year, particularly since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza erupted on Oct. 7.
At least 546 Palestinians have been killed in the territory by Israeli troops or settlers since the Gaza war broke out, according to Palestinian officials.
At least 37,296 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military campaign, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Also on Saturday, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad said the only way to return Israeli hostages is through Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, ending its offensive and reaching a deal for exchanging Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
The spokesman of Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian group, made the remarks in a video posted on Telegram.
‘Miscalculation’ could lead to wider Hezbollah-Israel conflict, say UN officials
- “The danger of miscalculation leading to a sudden and wider conflict is very real,” the two officials said
- The United States and France are working on a negotiated settlement to the hostilities along Lebanon’s southern border
BEIRUT: There is a “very real” risk that a miscalculation along Lebanon’s southern border could trigger a wider conflict between Hezbollah and the Israeli military, two UN officials in Lebanon warned on Saturday.
The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and the head of UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon, Aroldo Lazaro, said they were “deeply concerned” about the recent escalation along Lebanon’s border.
Iran-backed Hezbollah last week launched the largest volleys of rockets and drones yet in the eight months it has been exchanging fire with the Israeli military, in parallel with the Gaza war.
“The danger of miscalculation leading to a sudden and wider conflict is very real,” the two officials said in a written statement on Saturday.
The United States and France are working on a negotiated settlement to the hostilities along Lebanon’s southern border. Hezbollah says it will not halt fire unless Israel’s military offensive on Gaza stops.
Egyptian president tours Prophet’s biography museum
- El-Sisi explored the various creative pavilions that illustrate aspects of the Prophet Muhammad’s life
RIYADH: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi visited the International Fair and Museum of the Prophet’s Biography and Islamic Civilization in Madinah, Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.
During his tour on Friday, El-Sisi explored the various creative pavilions that illustrate aspects of the Prophet Muhammad’s life.
He viewed the panorama of the prophet’s chamber, which showcases authentic details of its construction and development through to the modern era.
El-Sisi was also introduced to a simulation of the Prophet’s pulpit, displayed through models and smart interactive screens. The exhibition highlighted the Kingdom’s efforts in serving the Qur’an and the Two Holy Mosques.
Expressing his admiration for the exhibition and museum project, El-Sisi extended his gratitude to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for their efforts and hospitality.
