Recent stories from sustg

MUST-READS

  • Houthis step up pressure on foreign organizations in Yemen

    Amid continued British-US airstrikes in Yemen, the Ansarullah movement—better known as the Houthis—has significantly intensified its intimidation tactics in the country. Since May 31, the group has arbitrarily arrested UN staff as well as employees of international and national organizations operating in Sana’a. Moreover, in June, the Houthis declared that they had detained an “American-Israeli” spy cell “directly linked to the CIA”—accusing those arrested of engaging in “espionage and sabotage in both official and unofficial institutions.” They subsequently broadcasted what appeared to be forced confessions from ten former employees of the US embassy, which closed its operations in 2015.

  • U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia to discuss Yemen as Israel-Hezbollah tension grows

    A senior U.S. delegation arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for talks about the situation in Yemen and the recent escalation between Israel and Houthi rebels, three U.S. officials said. The U.S. delegation is headed by Brett McGurk, the White House's top Middle East adviser, U.S. officials said. The State Department's top Middle East diplomat Barbara Leaf, the U.S. envoy for Yemen Tim Lendeking and the Pentagon's top Middle East official Dan Shapiro are also part of the delegation.

  • How Israeli attack helped Houthis push Saudis to tame Yemeni rivals

    In Yemen, the Ansarullah movement and the internationally-recognized government have struck an “economic de-escalation accord” reportedly mediated by Saudi Arabia. The agreement is a major breakthrough for Ansarullah, better known as the Houthis. The group had threatened the Kingdom with “war” unless escalating economic warfare by its Yemeni rivals was halted. The Saudi mediation notably follows warnings by senior Houthi officials of a severe response if Riyadh is found to have enabled the recent Israeli airstrikes in Yemen.

  • Saudi provides food aid to Sudan, Yemen

    The Kingdom’s aid agency KSrelief has continued to provide food to vulnerable families in Sudan and Yemen, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday. In the River Nile state of Sudan, 1,200 boxes of food were given to 6,900 individuals affected by the ongoing conflict in the country. In the Al-Mansoura district of Yemen’s Aden governorate, KSrelief handed out 413 boxes of food for 2,891 individuals, as a part of its continuing aid project in the war-torn country.

  • Saudi Arabia welcomes deal between Yemeni government, Houthis

    Saudi Arabia on Wednesday welcomed a deal between Yemen’s government and the Iran-backed Houthi militia to halt tit-for-tat banking sanctions. The deal was announced on Tuesday by Hans Grundberg, the United Nations’ envoy to Yemen, in a bid to end the warring parties’ battle for control over the country’s financial institutions.

  • Saudi Arabia calls for restraint following Israeli airstrikes in Yemen

    Saudi Arabia called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and to distance the region and its people from the dangers of war after the Israeli attacks in Al Hudaydah governorate on Saturday, which aggravate the current tension in the region and halt the ongoing efforts to end the war on Gaza.

  • Saudi says not involved in targeting Yemen’s Hodeidah, closely following ‘escalation’

    Saudi Arabia released a statement Sunday clarifying that it was not involved in an attack targeting the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah. On Saturday, the Israeli army announced that its fighter jet bombed Houthi military targets in Yemen, in response to the militant group’s attacks against Israel in recent months.

  • Israel shoots down missile fired from Yemen after striking Houthis

    Israel said it shot down a missile launched from Yemen on Sunday and the Yemeni Houthi movement said it had fired several missiles at the Israeli city of Eilat after Israel's first public strike against the Iran-aligned group a day earlier. The Houthis have launched missiles and drones at Israel and disrupted global trade through the Red Sea in response to Israel's assault on Gaza, further destabilising the Middle East as war in the Palestinian enclave rages on after nine months.

  • Yemen’s Houthis threaten Saudi Arabia with aerial footage of key airports

    The media of the military wing of Yemen’s Houthi rebels published a video on Sunday showing aerial drone footage and coordinates of important and prominent airports and ports in Saudi Arabia. The video, titled "Just try it", contained images of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, King Fahd International Airport in Damman as well as the ports in Ras Tanura, Jizan and Jeddah.

  • U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Lenderking’s Travel to Saudi Arabia and Oman

    U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking is traveling to Saudi Arabia and Oman this week to continue discussions with partners regarding recent Houthi detentions of UN, diplomatic, and international NGO staff and efforts to secure an immediate end to reckless Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways.  Houthi detentions and attacks threaten progress toward achieving a durable resolution to the conflict in Yemen and obstruct the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Yemenis and people in need across the region.