Arab foreign ministers hold a meeting to condemn Iranian attacks, and Tunisia assumes the presidency of the 166th session of the League Council.

Arab foreign ministers will hold a meeting, Monday, at the beginning of the 166th session of the Arab League Council at the level of foreign ministers. An Arab diplomatic source said that “the meeting will issue a decision regarding Iranian attacks on Arab countries.”

The source added to Asharq Al-Awsat that “the meeting of the permanent delegates of the Arab League, which was held on Saturday, discussed the agenda of the ministerial meeting,” noting that “the delegates discussed developments in the regional situation and the repercussions of the Iranian war, in addition to developments in the Palestinian issue as it is the main Arab issue.”

The source revealed, “The permanent delegates agreed to issue a statement regarding Israeli violations at the conclusion of the ministerial meeting next Monday, along with the meeting’s decisions that will focus on condemning Iranian attacks on Arab countries.”

The permanent delegates held a meeting, on Saturday, at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Arab League in Cairo, in the context of preparing for the meeting of Arab foreign ministers, in the presence of Ambassador Sherif Kamel, Head of the Office of the Secretary-General of the Arab League. The meeting witnessed Tunisia assuming the presidency of the 166th session of the League Council, succeeding Bahrain.

Ambassador Fawzia bint Abdullah Zainal, Permanent Representative of Bahrain, stressed in her speech during the meeting that Arab national security is “one indivisible unit,” and that Palestine will remain the central Arab issue.

The Bahrain delegate condemned the Iranian attacks that targeted countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Kingdom of Jordan, and described them as “a blatant violation of international law and a threat to peace and security in the region, especially in light of the targeting of civilians and civilian objects.”

Bahrain reiterated its position “rejecting any attacks targeting the sovereignty of Arab countries or the security of their citizens,” warning of “the danger of such attacks on the stability of the region.”

In turn, Al-Hashemi Al-Ajili, Director General of Maghreb, Arab and Islamic Organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Tunisians Abroad, said in his speech that his country “assumes the presidency of this session in a delicate and sensitive regional circumstance, in which the challenges facing the region are increasing,” stressing “the importance of Arab solidarity, consultation and coordination.”

He affirmed “Tunisia’s support for the Palestinian cause, the right of the Palestinian people to establish their state, adherence to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Arab countries, and strengthening Arab solidarity and unity of ranks, in a way that serves the security and stability of the region.”

The Economic and Social Council of the Arab League held a meeting at the ministerial level in Cairo last Thursday, during which it called for strengthening support for the Palestinian economy through a multi-year program to build capacity and provide technical assistance, and stressed the necessity of moving joint Arab economic and social work from the stage of “coordination and exchange of visions, to implementation and achieving tangible results, and helping unstable countries.”

In his speech during the Economic and Social Council meeting, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Nabil Fahmy, presented 10 priorities for the next stage, which begin with developing “an Arab model for comprehensive development that takes advantage of the human and natural resources of the region,” in addition to supporting the Palestinian people and developing effective executive mechanisms to support their economy, supporting Arab countries facing unstable situations, and activating Arab food security strategies.

The massive ground attack launched by the Houthi group since last Thursday on the fronts of the West Coast, southern Hodeidah, and western Taiz has begun to rebound, with the Yemeni government forces moving to the counterattack and achieving field progress in more than one axis, at a time when air strikes are intensifying on the group’s positions, and the army and resistance forces are trying to cut off their supply lines.

In the most prominent developments on the ground on Saturday morning, the National Resistance Forces, supported by units from the Giants Brigades, began a counterattack south of the Al-Jarrahi District in Hodeidah Governorate, coinciding with their marches carrying out strikes targeting Houthi reinforcements in the region, according to the resistance’s military media.

This move comes as government forces advance from Hays towards Al-Jarrahi, in the eastern south of Hodeidah, in an attempt to regain the initiative on one of the axes that witnessed widespread Houthi attacks during the past days, while military sources reported that the group suffered significant human and material losses during the confrontations.

In southeastern Taiz, government forces made new progress on the Haifan front and, according to a military source, took control of the “Al-Wathra” hill and the “Saeed Taha” hill in the Al-Mafalis area, in addition to the “Dhiban”, “Al-Hadeera” and “Al-Najdin” hills.

The sites that the forces regained control are gaining military importance, as they overlook the Khazja market and Houthi supply lines towards fronts in northwestern Lahj and southern Taiz, according to the same source, which indicated human and material losses among the group’s ranks, and the escape of a number of its members from the sites of confrontations.

Counterattack

In western Taiz, government forces had regained, on Friday, Tabbat al-Khazan in Jabal Habashi District, during violent confrontations with the Houthis, coinciding with the intensification of battles on the Maqbanah and Al-Kadha fronts, and the arrival of reinforcements to government forces.

The successive developments on these fronts indicate that the initiative is gradually shifting from the Houthi attack to government forces, after three days of battles during which the group attempted to make field breakthroughs in southern Hodeidah and western Taiz, especially in Jabal Habashi.

In the Saqm axis, the military media of the National Resistance reported, on Saturday, that the forces of the Second Division were “harassing” the Houthis in the Muharraq Mountains, while the naval forces of the Resistance announced the destruction of two Houthi booby-trapped boats that attempted to target the Al-Fajra area, south of Al-Khokha, and the port of Mokha.

Military sources also announced the thwarting of a Houthi infiltration attempt from the eastern entrance to the city of Taiz, and the killing of a number of the group's members, while confrontations continued in different sectors of the front.

This coincided with the Haijat al-Abd road linking Taiz and Aden being subjected to Houthi bombing, which, according to local and medical sources, resulted in the killing of four civilians and the injury of nine others, in addition to material damage to the site.

These incidents reflect the expansion of the Houthi escalation to include roads and civilian areas, coinciding with the ground operations that the group is waging on the lines of contact.

Raids enter the battle

For the first time, the Yemeni army announced the use of its warplanes to target Houthi positions on the Taiz and Hodeidah fronts, in a remarkable development in the course of the current battles.

The Armed Forces Media Center said, on Friday evening, that warplanes launched more than 15 raids on Houthi sites, gatherings, and vehicles on the western coast fronts in the Taiz and Hodeidah governorates, in conjunction with continued artillery shelling and ground clashes.

Military sources reported that Yemeni aviation continued its raids on the group’s sites in Taiz and Hodeidah, targeting supply lines and weapons stores, at a time when Houthi sites in the city of Al-Hazm in Al-Jawf Governorate were subjected to air strikes, according to military sources.

Field sources say that the Houthi losses during the three days of confrontations were large, and that hundreds of deaths and injuries fell among the group's ranks, while hospitals under its control in Hodeidah are facing increasing pressure due to the arrival of the dead and wounded in the battles.

The group transferred a new batch of those killed and wounded from the clashes to Al-Jarrahī and Zabid hospitals, according to local media sources, in an indication of the extent of the losses suffered by its forces during the attack, and attempts to repel counterattacks.

On the other hand, the Houthis continue to send reinforcements to the areas of confrontation, in an attempt to preserve the positions where they achieved initial progress, and to contain the counterattack by government forces.

Protection of Bab al-Mandab

In light of the expansion of the confrontations, the Chairman of the Yemeni Presidential Command Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, and members of the Council followed developments in military operations, and made contact with military and field commands to review the progress of battles, readiness, and operational and logistical needs, according to a statement issued by the Office of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

On Friday evening, Al-Alimi warned of the repercussions of the Houthi escalation, holding the group responsible for its resulting humanitarian effects, including the displacement of hundreds of families from areas of confrontation.

He stressed that government forces would not allow the achievement of what he described as Iran's goal of controlling the Bab al-Mandab Strait, stressing that any movement towards these areas would lead to severe attrition of the Houthis.

This comes as the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation called on international organizations and donors for urgent humanitarian intervention to help displaced and affected families in Taiz and Hodeidah, warning of the increasing needs for shelter, food, medicine, water, and medical services, and calling for the establishment of field hospitals to receive the wounded.

Last August, Mocha and its port were subjected to a series of Houthi attacks with ballistic missiles and drones, in an escalation that affected civilian facilities and objects, and led to the disruption of the port’s movement and its facilities being out of service, at a time when government forces responded with military operations and strikes targeting the group’s movements and offensive capabilities.

The Houthi group has resorted to new tricks to compensate for the human bleeding in the military escalation to lure high school students, while hospitals and medical facilities in the kidnapped Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and the areas under its control, have been facing an unprecedented stifling crisis for about a month and a half, represented by the complete filling of morgues and intensive care rooms, amid a strict news blackout.

Medical sources in Sanaa told Asharq Al-Awsat that this worsening crisis is a direct result of the Houthi military escalation and the prominent tactical shift with the entry of drones into the Yemeni army’s equipment, which inflicted heavy human losses among the attackers, noting that the majority of the dead and wounded fell on the combat fronts between the governorates of Taiz and Hodeidah in the southwest of the country.

According to the sources, the group imposes a strict news blackout about the extent of these losses, and this is accompanied by a wave of direct threats to doctors and health sector workers to prevent the leaking of any medical data or statistics, or about refrigerators being crowded with bodies and intensive care rooms filling up with the wounded.

This crisis has affected the lives of sick and critically ill civilians or those injured in accidents. The group's leaders issued strict directives to give absolute priority to its members in intensive care rooms and morgues in major hospitals such as (Al-Thawra, Al-Kuwait, and Al-Jumhuri), in addition to obliging private hospitals to do so.

Construction in installments

This medical monopoly has led to hospitals refusing or being unable to receive hundreds of medical cases and forcing those with cases to move for long hours between medical facilities or keep them in private cars.

The sources indicate that the directives included obliging forensic medicine to quickly deal with bodies preserved in cases of murder or traffic accidents, quickly releasing them and allowing them to be buried, or informing the families of their owners of their receipt after allegedly completing investigations, in addition to disposing of the bodies of unidentified persons by burying them.

This massive influx of bodies placed the group's leadership facing a complex dilemma. On the one hand, it is trying to adhere to its ideological and political protocols of honoring its dead with public funeral ceremonies in front of their families and tribes in order to maintain societal loyalty. On the other hand, it is afraid that the large death toll will be exposed in order to avoid the collapse of the morale of its supporters, and to reduce the fears of tribes that are hesitant to send their sons to the battle fronts.

Through intense attacks, the Houthi group seeks to encircle the city of Taiz (southwest) from the western side, with the aim of cutting off the vital artery and the strategic road linking it to the city of Mokha on the western coast near Bab al-Mandab.

The sources revealed that the group was forced to adopt a strategy of “paying funerals in installments,” by organizing limited funerals over long periods of time and in separate areas, to distract attention from the actual size of the human bill.

Other sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group, which has been facing a deep crisis in traditional mobilization and recruitment operations recently, has resorted to shifting the weight of its attraction towards the educational sector, and has transformed a number of secondary schools and their scientific laboratories into training workshops to teach students the mechanisms of disassembling and assembling weapons.

From activities to fronts

The Houthi group stressed the use of “scouts teams” for systematic lure operations targeting adolescents and youth. The lure mechanism begins by persuading students and youth to participate in securing the celebrations, gatherings, and vigils that it organizes periodically in squares and squares, in addition to “cultural courses” in its affiliated headquarters or mosques, with the aim of creating a gradual psychological and intellectual impact on them.

During these activities, participants receive financial rewards and meals, and are required to wear military clothing to enhance their sense of belonging.

Later, under the name “reward for discipline,” they are transferred to higher levels that include courses on the use of light weapons, then combat courses and field maneuvers, and these students eventually find themselves on the front lines of fire.

The Houthi group resorted to internal military escalation on a wide number of fronts, but it focused its attacks on the southwestern axes of the country, in an attempt to impose its control over the entire western coast of Yemen and approach the Bab al-Mandab Strait, in response to Iranian efforts to expand the scope of the regional confrontation and the maritime transport crisis and tighten the noose on the movement of energy exports from the region.