Houthis Raid U.N. Office, Attack Oil Tanker After Israeli Airstrike Eliminated Senior Leadership
On Sunday, the Houthi insurgents supported by Iran in Yemen made a descent into the UN offices, making at least 11 UN employees, then launched a missile on Monday in an Israeli oil tanker in the Red Sea. Israeli defense forces (FDI) had killed a large part of the high management of the Houthis, including their “Prime Minister” Ahmed al-Rahawi, in an air strike on Thursday.
The spokesperson for the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and UNICEF, the United Nations Fund for Children, said that the armed “security agencies” made a descent into the occupied capital, which the Houthis captured in 2014 and in the port city of Hodeidah.
The employees of the two agencies were gathered in the parking lot to question, and at least 11 staff members were detained. An official of the United Nations told the Associated Press (AP) that the Houthis “had also seized documents and other materials from the UN offices” on Monday.
Cindy McCain, Director General of PAM called The Houthi raids “unacceptable” and declared that the insurgents “confiscated – and destroy – our property” in addition to arbitrarily holding nine PAM employees.
The United Nations agencies said they were doing a “full number of chiefs” of their employees of the Houthi territory to determine whether other staff members had been kidnapped.
The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres “strongly condemned” the “arbitrary detentions” of PAM and UNICEF staff on Sunday.
“I still condemn the forced entry into WFP and other UN premises, and the seizure of UN goods”, he said.
Guterres demanded “the immediate and unconditional release of all the United Nations, international and national NGOs [non-governmental organizations]Civil society and diplomatic missions that have been arbitrarily owned today and in previous years. »»
“UN staff and its partners should never be targeted during their duties,” he said.
Sunday raids were not the first case of the Houth Holow offenses or detention of their staff members. The UN suspended operations in the territory controlled by the Houthi in northern Yemen after the Houthis owned more than 60 UN employees and its partner organizations in June. The Houthis said that these UN employees were members of an “American-Israeli spy network”.
United Nations Special Envoy in Yemen Hans Grundberg said Distents on Sunday “in addition to the 23 United Nations staff currently in detention, some prisoners since 2021 and 2023, and a colleague who died in detention earlier this year.”
“Despite a lasting commitment and the insurance sought in the past year, the arbitrary detention of the United Nations staff, workers from NGOs and civil society has continued. These actions severely hinder wider efforts to provide aid and advance peace to Yemen,” said Grundberg.
“The work of UN staff is designed and carried out under the principles of neutrality, impartiality, independence and humanity. These arrests violate the fundamental obligation to respect and protect their security, their dignity and their ability to do their essential work in Yemen, “he said.
The Houthis said on Monday that they had attacked an Israeli oil tanker called Scarlet radius with a missile. The ship is with Liberian flag and managed by the company Eastern Pacific Shipping, based in Singapore. Its owner is Idan Ocer, an Israeli billionaire whose father Sami Orser has built a large part of the Israel’s maritime transport industry.
The attack was unusually close to the coast of Saudi Arabia, as the Scarlet radius was only about 40 sea kilometers from the Saudi port city Yanbu. The Houthis have perceived many other attacks of drones and missiles against shipping ships in the Red Sea, but rarely so close to the Saudi continent.
“We are aware of the security reports alleging that our ship managed Scarlet radius was the target of a suspected Houthi attack. We confirm that the ship has undergone any damage and continues to operate under the command of its master. All crew members are safe and recorded, “said a statement on Monday.
