Israel’s war on Gaza complicating Yemen peace efforts, envoy says
Hans Grundberg, the UN’s special envoy for Yemen, made the statement during a briefing of the UN Security Council on Thursday.
He said his primary objective remained “the mediation of a sustainable and just resolution to the conflict” between the Houthi rebels and Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
But, “unfortunately, the ongoing war in Gaza, and the regional escalation associated with it, complicates my efforts”, he added.
The Houthis, who have launched attacks on Red Sea shipping in a bid to pressure Israel to stop its war, are continuing their attacks, Grundberg said, while the US and UK are also pressing on with their assaults against Houthi targets inside Yemen.
“I reiterate my concern over this escalatory trajectory and repeat my call for the parties to put Yemen first and to prioritise a settlement of the conflict in Yemen,” the envoy said.
HRW calls for sanctions on Israel’s Ben-Gvir
The Human Rights Watch has called on Western governments to do more to end Israel’s abuses in the occupied West Bank, including by imposing sanctions on government ministers responsible for the unlawful use of lethal force in the territory.
These include far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has been distributing weapons to Israeli settlers and directing police not to enforce laws against violent settlers, the group said.
“For months, the world’s eyes have been on Gaza, but atrocity prevention is needed in the West Bank too,” said HRW’s Director of Crisis Advocacy Akshaya Kumar.
Israel says 3 UN staff among 9 Hamas fighters killed in school attack
The Israeli military has identified some nine men it said were Hamas fighters who were killed in Wednesday’s attack on the UN-run al-Jaouni school in central Gaza. As we’ve been reporting, the attack killed at least 18 Palestinians, including six UNRWA staff members.
The Israeli military said three of the men had doubled as UNRWA workers.
But UNRWA’s Director of Communications, Juliette Touma, said the names that appeared on the Israeli statement “have not been flagged to us before by the Israeli authorities in previous occasions”.
Israel has previously accused UNRWA staff of being members of “terrorist” groups but an independent review led by a former French foreign minister found it did not present credible evidence to support its claims.
And 90% of the ones Israel did flag were disproven, only a couple remained as possibilities after 2 independent investigations. No solid evidence whatsoever, only some allegations from 'testimonies' from captives under interrogation. Information extracted under torture.
