A United Nations staff member who was recently detained by Yemen’s Houthi authorities has been released, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday.
“We continue to urge the de facto authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all UN and humanitarian workers who are supporting the most vulnerable people in Yemen,” Dujarric said.
He did not provide information about the timing or circumstances of the detention, which comes after nine other UN personnel were detained by Houthis.
Dujarric said 53 UN staff remain detained by Houthis, adding that some have been held since 2021.
Yemen has been the focus of one of the world’s largest humanitarian operations during a decade of civil war that disrupted food supplies. WFP says it provided assistance to 15.3 million people, or 47 percent of the population, in 2023.
WFP was among the UN offices raided by Houthis in the Yemeni capital Sanaa in August. Eleven UN personnel were detained as a result of the raid.
The raid, which followed an Israeli strike on Sanaa that killed the prime minister of the Houthi-run government and several other ministers, was condemned by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who described the detentions as “intolerable.”
Houthi officials said last month that the UN personnel’s legal immunities should not shield espionage activities.
The Houthi-run foreign ministry also accused the UN of bias for condemning what they called “legal measures taken by the government against spy cells involved in crimes,” while failing to denounce the Israeli attack.
UN staff member released from Houthi detention in Yemen, UN spokesperson says
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UN staff member released from Houthi detention in Yemen, UN spokesperson says
- 53 UN staff remain detained by Houthis, some have been held since 2021
Israeli settlers install mobile homes on Palestinian lands near Ramallah
- Israeli forces have carried out 1,523 violations this year, while settlers committed 621 attacks against Palestinians, a settlement watchdog said
- Some of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank since 1967 started as mobile homes that later expanded into permanent structures
LONDON: Israeli settlers set up mobile homes east of the Ramallah and Al-Bireh district in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, potentially marking the initiation of a new illegal outpost in the area.
Residents told the Wafa news agency that the makeshift settler units were installed between the towns of Burqa and Deir Dibwan to expand the Ramat Migron settlement, which is built on Palestinian-owned land.
Some of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank since 1967 started as mobile homes that later expanded into permanent structures. Many outposts begin without official approval but were later legalized by Israeli authorities, the Wafa added.
Israeli forces have carried out 1,523 violations this year, while settlers committed 621 attacks against Palestinians, according to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission. The most incidents occurred in Ramallah and Al-Bireh (360), followed by Hebron (348), Bethlehem (342), and Nablus (334).
All settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.
Excluding East Jerusalem, which was occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967, some 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, along with about 3 million Palestinian residents.
