Another United Nations staff member has been detained in Yemen, bringing the number of the world body’s employees apprehended in recent days to six, a UN spokesperson said on Monday.
The latest detention came after Houthi security forces entered several United Nations offices in Sanaa, Yemen, on Sunday, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary general.
He added that the Houthis confiscated IT and communication equipment and assets.
At least 59 UN personnel are being held by Houthis, according to Dujarric, who condemned the continued detentions. Some have been held for years, the UN said.
There are hundreds of UN personnel remaining in parts of Houthi-controlled Yemen, including a small number of international staff, said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary general.
“Our immediate priority is the safety and well-being of all UN personnel, including securing the release of colleagues who have been arbitrarily detained and those of our local partners who have also been affected, and prevent further detentions,” Haq said.
The Iran-aligned Houthis have controlled most of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, since seizing power in 2014 and early 2015.
According to the UN, Houthis have taken steps that have made it “increasingly difficult” for the agency to provide assistance to those in need in Yemen.
Hajj said last week that the Houthis’ actions are forcing the UN to reassess how it works in areas controlled by the group.
UN staff member detained after Houthis raided offices in Sanaa, UN spokesperson says
https://arab.news/64s22
UN staff member detained after Houthis raided offices in Sanaa, UN spokesperson says
- Houthis confiscated communication equipment from UN offices
- At least 59 UN personnel are being held by Houthis
Israel gives legal status to 19 West Bank settlements
- Construction of settlements — including some built without official Israeli authorization — has increased under Israel’s far-right governing coalition, fragmenting the West Bank and cutting off Palestinian towns and cities from each other
JERUSALEM: Israel’s Cabinet has decided to give legal status to 19 settlements in the occupied West Bank, including two that were vacated 20 years ago under a pullout aimed at boosting the country’s security and the economy, Israeli media reported.
The Palestinian Authority on Friday condemned the move, announced late on Thursday.
Some of the settlements are newly established, while others are older, Israeli media said.
The move to legalize the settlements in the West Bank — territory Palestinians seek for a future state — was proposed by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Most world powers deem Israel’s settlements, on land it captured in a 1967 war, illegal. Numerous UN Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to halt all settlement activity.
Construction of settlements — including some built without official Israeli authorization — has increased under Israel’s far-right governing coalition, fragmenting the West Bank and cutting off Palestinian towns and cities from each other.
The 19 settlements include two that Israel withdrew from in 2005, evacuated under a disengagement plan overseen by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that focused mainly on Gaza.
Under the plan, which was opposed by the settler movement at the time, all 21 Israeli settlements in Gaza were ordered to be evacuated. Most settlements in the West Bank were unaffected.
In a statement on Friday, Palestinian Authority Minister Mu’ayyad Sha’ban called the announcement another step to erase Palestinian geography.
Sha’ban, of the Palestinian Authority’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, said the decision raised serious alarms over the future of the West Bank.
Home to 2.7 million Palestinians, the Israeli-occupied West Bank has long been at the heart of plans for a future Palestinian nation existing alongside Israel.
Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians reached their highest recorded levels in October with settlers carrying out at least 264 attacks, according to the UN.
