Coalition blames rebels for fuel shortage at Sanaa airport

Arab News
August 5, 2017

Riyadh, Aug 5: The coalition supporting legitimacy in Yemen is not responsible for the lack of fuel at Sanaa airport because the city is controlled by the Houthis and forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, coalition spokesman Col. Turki Al-Maliki said on Friday.

Al-Maliki was responding to media reports of the director of the UN Development Program in Yemen claiming that the coalition is hampering fuel supplies to UN humanitarian aircraft.

He said the coalition issues daily permits to allow the entry of fuel ships, basic materials and necessary supplies, as well as humanitarian and medical aid to all ports without exception, including Hodeidah, which is under Houthi control.

He added that the last authorization granted to the UN was on July 29, and included a permit to dispatch fuel convoys for aircraft from Aden to Sanaa airport.

The coalition can only grant ships entry to Yemeni ports that are not under rebel control, as entry is organized by a port’s controlling authority, Al-Maliki said.

The coalition does not target aid convoys or fuel tankers, and aid convoys are given special protection, he added.

The coalition is looking after seven ships carrying fuel that are authorized to enter Hodeidah port, but the Houthis are refusing to unload the cargo, Al-Maliki said.

This behavior confirms that the rebels are trying to hinder the arrival of basic and vital supplies, he added.

The rebels are using their control of some Yemeni ports to create a black market to raise more money for their military campaigns, in violation of international humanitarian law, he said.

Al-Maliki stressed the coalition’s keenness and efforts to meet the essential needs of the Yemeni people, and to deliver humanitarian aid to Yemeni ports, unlike the rebels.

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News Network
March 15,2024

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The leader of Yemen’s Houthis has said that the Yemeni armed forces will continue their retaliatory operations against Israeli-affiliated commercial vessels, preventing the passage of the ships even through the Indian Ocean and through the Cape of Good Hope.  

About 34 Houthi fighters have been killed since the Yemeni armed forces began to attack shipping lanes in solidarity with the people of Palestine under attack in Gaza by Israel, Ansarullah leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech on Thursday.

Yemeni forces have repeatedly launched drones and missiles against Israeli and Israel-bound ships since mid-November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians against Israel's war on Gaza.

Al-Houthi said 73 ships have been targeted in Yemeni operations in support of Gaza so far, adding rarely does any ship associated with the Israeli enemy pass through Bab al-Mandab.

“This week, support operations included 12 operations targeting ships and barges, executed with a total of 58 ballistic and cruise missiles and drones in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Gulf of Aden,” he said.

“Our operations this time reached unprecedented ranges, with 3 operations reaching the Indian Ocean, by the grace of Allah,” he added. “The total number of targeted ships and barges reached 73.”

Al-Houthi said that the operations will continue as long as the aggression and siege on Gaza persist.

The United States and Britain began striking Yemen in January in order to dissuade the country from targeting Israeli ships which carry arms and logistics for the onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip.

Al-Houthi said the Americans and the British have received “painful blows” from the Yemeni armed forces in retaliation.

The American-British “aggression will not affect the escalating course of our operations in terms of range, momentum, precision, and strength,” said Al-Houthi.  

“What can stop the Yemeni military’s maritime operations is only the cessation of aggression and siege on Gaza,” he noted.

The American stubbornness and escalation of aggression result in only one outcome: the expansion of the conflict, the widening of the circle of war and events, and the tension of the situation at the regional level in general, he stated.

He went on to say that the Yemeni armed forces will continue and effectively expand the range of the operations to reach areas and locations that the enemy never expected.

Al-Houthi said what insures the navigation security in the Red Sea is for any country not to participate in the Israeli aggression against Gaza.

He said the Americans and those who drag the United States towards the militarization of the Red Sea are the ones who undermine international navigation.

“By the grace of Allah and His assistance, we aim to prevent the passage of ships associated with the Israeli enemy even through the Indian Ocean and from South Africa towards the Cape of Good Hope,” he stated.

“For this important, advanced, and significant step, we have begun to implement our operations related to it through the Indian Ocean and from South Africa towards the Cape of Good Hope,” he said.

There is absolutely no choice for the American and the British but to stop the aggression on Gaza and stop starving the people in Gaza, he declared.

“Our human conscience, our religion, our morals, our dignity, our pride, our belonging to Islam, prohibit us from watching the oppression of Palestine or remaining silent about it,” said Houthi.

He added that the Yemeni military is in continuous development of capabilities and in constant expansion of the stance in its range, effectiveness, and impact.

“The American's actions this week, involving aerial bombings and naval shelling, amounted to 32 bombing raids and strikes, which, as usual, were unsuccessful,” he revealed.

“The impact of the American raids and bombings is negligible regarding our missile and drone capabilities and in terms of continuing operations effectively to counter it, and in preventing ships associated with the Israeli enemy,” he stated.

He concluded by saying that the Yemeni armed forces are continuously escalating, and increasing capabilities to attack enemy ships. “No matter what the Americans do, they will not be able to stop us from supporting the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

Yemenis have declared their open support for Palestine’s struggle against the Israeli occupation since the regime launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 7 after the territory’s Palestinian resistance movements carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.

The Yemeni Armed Forces have said they won’t stop retaliatory strikes.

The maritime attacks have forced some of the world’s biggest shipping and oil companies to suspend transit through one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes.

Tankers are instead adding thousands of miles to international shipping routes by sailing around the continent of Africa rather than going through the Suez Canal.

Since the start of Israel's genocidal war following Operation al-Aqsa Storm by Gaza-based resistance movements on October 7, 2023, more than 31,000 Palestinians, including many women and children, have lost their lives.

The Israeli military offensive has left a trail of destruction in Gaza, leaving hospitals in ruins and displacing around half of its 2.4 million residents.

Israel has additionally enforced a comprehensive blockade on the coastal sliver, severing the supply of fuel, electricity, sustenance and water to the population residing there.

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News Network
March 8,2024

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As the world marks International Women's Day, the government media office in Gaza has mourned 8,900 Palestinian women killed by Israel since October amid the silence of the international community.

In a statement issued on Friday, the media office said Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which began in October, has so far killed 8,900 Palestinian women and injured more than 23,000 others, with 2,100 still missing.

“On March 8, the world celebrates International Women's Day, honoring women for their achievements and struggle. However, Palestinian women continue to pay a heavy price for freedom and dignity.”

The statement said Israel kills Palestinian women “in cold blood”, while “the world stands idly by, witnessing this grave violation against Palestinian women without lifting a finger.”

The office noted that Israel’s war has also left over half a million Palestinian women displaced and living under “extreme difficulties”, with no access to basic necessities such as food and medicine.

According to the statement, the war has also “made 60,000 pregnant women live a harsh and extremely difficult life, lacking the most basic healthcare and medical requirements”. The office said hundreds of them “have lost their sons, newborns, or unborn children due to bombing, fear, and ‘Israeli’ killing.”

The statement also referred to the plight of female Palestinian detainees, saying dozens are “facing physical and psychological torture, poor treatment, and humiliation.”

The media office hailed the “steadfastness” of Palestinian women, stressing that they are “in dire need to defend their rights and life requirements rather than being killed, shot at, detained, and forced into displacement and migration, as the occupation army has been doing for over five continuous months.”

The office also held the US, the international community, and all relevant international organizations “fully responsible” for the genocide in Gaza and the harsh conditions forced upon Palestinian women there, slamming those who take part in the war and those who remain silent on the Israeli crimes.

The statement also urged “all the countries of the free world and the international community” to work towards ending the ‘Israeli’ occupation, and to take action to save Palestinian women from the ongoing Israeli crimes, “including killing, shooting, arresting, humiliating, torturing, and forcing them to leave their homes, cities, and residential areas.”

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

The Tel Aviv regime has also imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians and injured over 72,000 others.

Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble in Gaza.

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News Network
March 7,2024

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A senior official of the Hamas resistance group says the US and Israel are pursuing a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in a bid to “buy time” to prolong their genocidal war on the Palestinian territory.

Osama Hamdan, a Lebanon-based Hamas official, made the remarks in an interview with Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen news channel, as Gaza truce negotiations, mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar, have failed to achieve a breakthrough.

"From the first day [of the Gaza ceasefire talks], it was clear that all the Americans and Israelis wanted was a temporary truce and they refused to cease hostilities permanently,” he said.

“Both the United States and Israel are maneuvering and trying to buy some time.”

The official also warned that Hamas will not continue aimless negotiations, adding that the resistance group seeks a written agreement and that it cannot settle for less.

Any information about the Israeli captives "comes with a price… If there are no clear answers, we cannot continue to go around in circles," he said.

Hamdan further said that the occupying regime actually wants to "catch its breath and worsen the humanitarian crisis" in the besieged Gaza. 

Israel waged its brutal US-backed war on the Gaza Strip on October 7 after Hamas carried out its historic operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for the regime's intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 30,717 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 72,156 others.

Israel is intentionally starving the Palestinian people by blocking the passage of relief supplies into Gaza in what is considered a war crime under the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute.

Instead of halting the flow of its weapons to Gaza, the US has recently embarked on a public relations campaign and airdropped aid on the blockaded territory.

Hamdan said that the amount of the airdropped aid did not exceed two truckloads, noting that the US is a complicit in the regime's inhumane siege on Gaza.

“Those who want to come to Gaza to contribute to the liberation project are welcomed, while those who want to side with the Israeli occupation will be treated as an occupier," he said.

The Hamas official also warned that the more Israel escalates its aggression against Gaza, the more the resistance front will be pushed towards higher levels of the battle against the regime.

The course of developments in the current Gaza war shows that the Palestinian people will emerge victorious, he predicted.

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