DUBAI: Yemen’s Houthi rebels unilaterally freed 153 war detainees Saturday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said, one of several overtures in recent days to ease tensions after the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Previous prisoner releases have been viewed as a means to jumpstart talks over permanently ending Yemen’s decadelong war, which began when the Houthis seized the country’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014. However, the Houthis’ release comes just after they detained another seven Yemeni workers from the United Nations, sparking anger from the world body.
Those released previously had been visited by Red Cross staff in Sanaa and received medical checks and other assistance, the organization said while announcing the release. The Houthis had signaled Friday night they planned a release of prisoners.
The Red Cross said it “welcomes this unilateral release as another positive step toward reviving negotiations.”
“This operation has brought much-needed relief and joy to families who have been anxiously waiting for the return of their loved ones,” said Christine Cipolla, the ICRC’s head of delegation in Yemen. “We know that many other families are also waiting for their chance to be reunited. We hope that today’s release will lead to many more moments like this.”
Abdul Qader Al-Murtada, the head of the Houthis’ Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs, said in a statement carried by Houthi media that those released were “humanitarian cases’ that included the sick, wounded and the elderly.
“The goal of the initiative is to build trust and establish a new phase of serious and honest dealing,” Al-Murtada reportedly said.
The Red Cross has helped oversee other prisoner releases, including one that saw some 1,000 prisoners swapped in 2020, over 800 detainees exchanged in 2023 and another release in 2024.
The rebels said earlier this week they would limit their attacks on ships in the Red Sea corridor and released the 25-member crew of the Galaxy Leader, a ship they seized back in November 2023, as the Gaza ceasefire took hold.
The war in Yemen has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more.
The Houthis’ attacks on shipping during the Israel-Hamas war have helped deflect attention from their problems at home. But they have faced casualties and damage from US-led airstrikes targeting the group for months now, as well as other strikes by Israel.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s economy is in tatters, something that’s put increasing pressure on the Houthis and others in the conflict to potentially negotiate an end to the war. A de facto ceasefire in the conflict, which drew in a Saudi-led coalition in 2015, has largely held for several years now even during the Houthis attacks over the Israel-Hamas war.
Yet the Houthis still conducted the raids that saw seven UN workers detained, likely alongside others. The rebels previously detained UN staffers, as well as individuals associated with the once-open US Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, aid groups and civil society.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres late Friday demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the seven, as well as all other UN workers held by the Houthis, some since 2021.
“The continued targeting of UN personnel and its partners negatively impacts our ability to assist millions of people in need in Yemen,” he warned in a statement. “The Houthis must deliver on their previous commitments and act in the best interests of the Yemeni people and the overall efforts to achieve peace in Yemen.”
The UN has halted work in Yemen, which provides food, medicine and other aid to the impoverished nation.
US President Donald Trump separately has moved to reinstate a terrorism designation he made on the group late in his first term that had been revoked by President Joe Biden, potentially setting the stage for new tensions with the rebels.
Analysts have linked the newest UN detentions as being connected to the decision, though the Houthis themselves have yet to comment on them. The rebels have been airing repeated programs on television channels they control parading people they describe as working with Western intelligence agencies or the Israelis.
Yemen’s Houthis release 153 war detainees, Red Cross says
https://arab.news/2d8t5
Yemen’s Houthis release 153 war detainees, Red Cross says
- However, the release follows the Houthis detaining another seven Yemeni workers from the United Nations
In Lebanon, Israeli strikes point to a precarious ceasefire
The Israeli military has reported striking five Hezbollah members in three separate incidents in south Lebanon since Mar. 15
BEIRUT: As Israel resumes heavy strikes in the Gaza Strip, escalating Israeli attacks in south Lebanon have killed five Hezbollah members in the last few days, according to security sources in Lebanon, underlining the fragility of a US-backed ceasefire.
The war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon marked the deadliest spillover of the Gaza war, rumbling across the frontier for months before escalating into a devastating Israeli offensive that wiped out the group’s command and many of its fighters, along with much of its arsenal.
While the ceasefire brought about a big reduction in the violence, each side accuses the other of failing to fully implement it. Israel says Hezbollah still has infrastructure in the south, while Lebanon and Hezbollah say Israel is occupying Lebanese soil by not withdrawing from five hilltop positions.
The Israeli military has reported striking five Hezbollah members in three separate incidents in south Lebanon since Mar. 15. In one of the incidents on Sunday, the Israeli military said it struck two Hezbollah militants “who served as observation operatives and directed terrorist activities.” Security sources in Lebanon said five Hezbollah members were killed.
The Israeli military said on Sunday that a gunshot hit a parked car in the Israeli community of Avivim, and that the shot most likely came from Lebanon. No one claimed responsibility.
STRIKES DESTROY PREFAB HOUSES
In Lebanon, Israeli strikes in two towns on Monday destroyed prefabricated houses brought to the area for people whose homes were destroyed in the war, security sources said.
Noting an increase in Israeli strikes in recent days, the UNIFIL peacekeeping force in south Lebanon “urges all actors to avoid any action that could upset the current delicate calm,” spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said.
“We continue to urge Israeli forces to fully withdraw south of the Blue Line, and we continue to support the Lebanese Armed Forces in their deployment in the south of Lebanon,” he added.
The Blue Line was drawn by the United Nations in 2000, when Israeli forces withdrew from south Lebanon, and separates the country from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The ceasefire agreed in November required Hezbollah to have no weapons in the south and Israeli troops to withdraw as the US-backed Lebanese army deployed into the region.
Israel said earlier this month it had agreed to US-backed talks with Lebanon aimed at demarcating the border. It also released five Lebanese held by the Israeli military in what it called a “gesture to the Lebanese president.”
Hezbollah officials have put the onus on the Lebanese state to liberate the remaining land still occupied by Israel. Still, leading Hezbollah official Ali Damoush said on Friday the group would not give up its arms while there was an occupation.
Analysts say Hezbollah would have to think very hard before taking any decision to escalate against Israel, noting that its overland resupply route to Iran was severed by the fall of its ally Bashar Assad in Syria and that many of its supporters are homeless because of the devastation caused by the war.
“So far, Hezbollah is keen not to respond and to leave the decision to the government and the Lebanese army,” said Qassem Kassir, a Lebanese analyst close to Hezbollah.
Syria says Israeli strikes aiming to undermine ‘stability’
- A foreign ministry statement denounced “in the strongest terms the recent Israeli air strikes on Daraa,” in southern Syria
- It added that “these deliberate attacks, launched without reason, reveal Israel’s total disregard for international law and norms”
DAMASCUS: The Syrian Arab Replic's foreign ministry on Tuesday condemned a series of deadly Israeli strikes a day earlier, accusing Israel of seeking to sow instability in the country.
A foreign ministry statement denounced “in the strongest terms the recent Israeli air strikes on Daraa,” in southern Syria, on Monday which authorities said killed three civilians.
“This aggression is part of an Israeli campaign against the Syrian people and the stability of the country,” the statement said.
It added that “these deliberate attacks, launched without reason, reveal Israel’s total disregard for international law and norms” and “represent a direct threat to regional and international security.”
The Israeli military said it had struck “military targets” in southern Syrian including “command centers and military sites.”
On Tuesday afternoon, the Israeli military said it launched new air strikes targeting “two cannons” in the region of Khan Arnabah, in the south of Syria, close to the 1974 ceasefire line separating Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.
Since the overthrow of president Bashar Assad on December 8, Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on military sites in Syria, saying it was acting to prevent the former Syrian army’s weapons falling into the hands of the new authorities whom it considers jihadists.
The toppling of Assad was led by Islamist-rebels, including those who once formed Al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, though the new government has sought to distance itself from that past.
The Israeli military has also deployed to the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights, separating the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan from that still controlled by Syria.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the demilitarization of southern Syria and said his country would not tolerate the presence of forces from the new authorities south of the capital Damascus.
UN humanitarian chief appeals for aid access as Gaza faces ‘total’ blockade
- ‘Worst fears materialized’ after Israel resumes airstrikes, issues new evacuation orders
- Renewal of hostilities has undermined gains during ceasefire, Security Council told
NEW YORK: The UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs warned the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the aid crisis in Gaza is worsening, as Israel resumed airstrikes across the territory and continued to block vital supplies.
“Overnight our worst fears materialized,” Tom Fletcher told council members.
“Airstrikes resumed across the entire Gaza Strip. (Reports) of hundreds of people killed. New evacuation orders issued by Israeli forces. Once again, the people of Gaza are living in abject fear.”
Fletcher added the situation had returned to chaos, undermining the modest gains made during a recent ceasefire.
Humanitarian efforts in Gaza were severely hampered following the resumption of hostilities, he said.
“Today, I am distressed to report that in addition to the intense airstrikes that have resumed, since March 2 Israeli authorities have cut off the entry of all lifesaving supplies — food, medicines, fuel, cooking gas — for 2.1 million people,” Fletcher said.
“Our repeated requests to collect aid sitting at Karem Shalom crossing have also been systematically rejected. No further hostages have been released. Only medical evacuations and humanitarian staff rotations continued. Even that came to a halt today.”
The blockade has worsened living conditions, with essential services such as clean water becoming increasingly scarce.
Fletcher highlighted that the shutdown of Gaza’s desalination plant has left 600,000 people without access to safe drinking water.
“The current suspension of aid and commercial materials is reversing the progress achieved during the brief ceasefire. Survival resources are now being rationed,” he said, adding that vegetable prices in northern Gaza have tripled, while bakeries have closed due to shortages of cooking gas and supplies.
The World Health Organization has warned that public health risks remain very high, including for communicable diseases resulting from overcrowding and poor sanitation.
Fletcher again raised concerns about the growing challenges facing humanitarian workers, with the new restrictions imposed on international NGOs since the Knesset legislation banning the aid agency UNRWA took effect on Jan. 30.
“UNRWA international staff are no longer able to rotate into and out of Gaza,” he said.
Fletcher said that on March 9, Israeli authorities introduced new registration rules for international NGOs delivering humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the territory. If enforced, these will impose strict conditions and significantly disrupt aid operations.
“The Israeli Knesset is also considering a bill to impose considerable taxation on donations from third states to Israeli NGOs, including humanitarian and human rights groups.
“If implemented, this would further erode the number of partners with the capacity to implement protection interventions.
“Many Israeli NGOs are engaged on legal cases involving home demolitions and forced evictions. They also provide protective presence activities related to settler violence.”
Fletcher underscored the success of the 42-day ceasefire, which allowed deliveries from more than 4,000 aid trucks per week, the release of 30 hostages, and the distribution of essential resources to over 2 million people.
“This proves what’s possible when we’re allowed to do our job,” Fletcher said. “We cannot accept a return to pre-ceasefire conditions or the complete denial of humanitarian relief.”
The UN official also expressed grave concern about escalating violence in the West Bank, where 95 Palestinians, including 17 children, have been killed since the beginning of the year, and over 40,000 Palestinians forced from their homes by Israeli military operations.
Fletcher called for immediate action, urging that humanitarian aid and commercial goods be allowed to enter Gaza, and that hostilities cease with the renewal of a ceasefire agreement.
He warned that without funding for the humanitarian response, which has received only 4 percent of the required financial support, the situation will worsen.
“Blocking food, water, and medicine for people who need them is unconscionable,” Fletcher said. “It goes against international humanitarian law and must be stopped immediately.”
Syria’s Aleppo International Airport reopens for domestic, international flights
- The first passenger flight from Damascus landed after the country’s second major hub reopened for air traffic on Tuesday
LONDON: The Syrian Arab Republic reopened the country’s second major airport for flights after nearly three months of closure.
The first passenger flight from Damascus landed at Aleppo International Airport after it reopened for air traffic on Tuesday, amid an official ceremony attended by representatives of Syria’s new interim government, the SANA news agency reported.
The airport was closed in November during the offensive by rebel groups against the regime of Bashar Assad in early December.
Syrian authorities have conducted maintenance and restoration work over the past three months to resume air traffic to and from Aleppo, the country’s second largest city after the capital and an important industrial and trade center.
Authorities announced that Aleppo will begin receiving international flights, facilitating the return of nearly 10 million Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey and Europe. It will also enable the visits of local and foreign investors to the city, SANA added.
Alaa Sallal, the director of relations at the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority, said efforts are underway to expand Aleppo International Airport’s services “to turn it into a key air gateway in Syria capable of handling more flights and connecting the country to the world.”
In January, international flights to and from Damascus resumed for the first time since the fall of Assad with a direct flight from Doha — the first in 13 years.
Netanyahu coalition jeopardized over ultra-Orthodox exemption from army
- The government must pass the budget by the end of the month or call snap elections
- United Torah Judaism holds seven seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament
BNEI BRAK, Israel: One of Israel’s most divisive domestic issues has reared itself again to challenge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after a group in the ruling coalition said it would bring the government down unless it exempts ultra-Orthodox Jews from army service.
Some members of United Torah Judaism, one of two ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties in the coalition, said in a letter that they would vote against the budget if the government did not pass a new law formalising exemptions for religious students.
“If this matter is once again sidelined or delayed for any reason, we will not be able to continue as partners in the coalition,” said the March 6 letter signed by Housing Minister and party chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf and two others.
The government must pass the budget by the end of the month or call snap elections. United Torah Judaism holds seven seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
It is too early to predict the consequences. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, is a proven master at smoothing over disagreements in his coalitions. An ultra-nationalist group that quit the government over the ceasefire in Gaza in January announced on Tuesday it was returning.
But pollster Mitchell Barak, who worked for Netanyahu in the 1990s, said this time ultra-Orthodox politicians appeared unwilling to compromise, and the prime minister might have to look outside the coalition for support to pass the budget, an extraordinary step.
“He’s going to look for someone who can compromise, save him, and be that ‘freyer’,” he said, speaking before the ultra-nationalists announced their return to the coalition and using a Yiddish word for someone who lets others take advantage of him. “That’s how he operates.”
The prime minister’s office declined to comment on the ultra-Orthodox ultimatum and whether he believed the budget could pass without their support.
MILITARY STRAINED
In Israel, military service is mandatory at age 18, after which Israelis become reservists liable to be called up for training or deployment.
But dating back to Israel’s founding in 1948 it made an exemption for ultra-Orthodox communities, known as Haredim, whose young men mainly dedicate their lives to studying religious texts in academies known as yeshivot.
Those communities were initially small but have grown rapidly in the following decades. According to government data, there are now 1.4 million Haredim, accounting for about 14 percent of the population, deepening resentment among other Israelis who are conscripted.
In 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the exemption was unconstitutional, and last year it ordered the military to conscript yeshiva students. Legal experts say the only way to restore the exemption would be to pass a new law enshrining it.
Members of the Haredi community say they would resist any attempt to conscript their children.
“They can put us in prison,” said Yehoshua Menuchin at his home in Bnei Brak, a densely populated city close to Tel Aviv where many Haredim live.
Menuchin, who has a 19-year-old son who is not serving, said the debate was driven by politics, rather than by genuine military need.
“If it’s a matter of survival, like an Arab invasion, then the Haredim will be the first to volunteer in order to save lives. But as long as it is political, it won’t ever happen.”
But 18 months into war in Gaza and major military operations in the West Bank and Lebanon, resentment is growing, and many lawmakers say the exemption is unjustifiable.
“They don’t know what 30 days of reserve duty a year is, and they don’t know what it is to dread that knock on the door,” centrist opposition lawmaker Elazar Stern, a former general, told Reuters, referring to the moment a parent learns of a child’s death in service.
DIVINE INTERVENTION
The Haredim live in insular neighborhoods centered around strict religious observance, with their own schools that largely eschew math and science. They have twice as many children as the national average, rely heavily on state welfare and charity, and those who work are often in low-paying jobs.
They believe that sending their children to the military is an existential threat, fearing that exposure to secular Israelis and outside influences could undermine their way of life.
“I know one thing: we must go the way the Torah instructs us,” said Meir Zvi Bergman, one of Israel’s most widely followed Haredi rabbis. “God does not want us to go, so we won’t go.”
The army says it is working to create conditions to make it easier for more Haredim to serve, such as dedicated battalions with strict religious practices, including regular prayer and gender segregation.
“The responsibility to defend the country must be shared fairly,” Eyal Zamir, Israel’s new chief of the military staff, said in a speech this month taking up his post. (Reporting by Alexander Cornwell, additional reporting by Maayan Lubell and Steven Scheer)
