“Dawn of Yemen” recalls Bab al-Mandab

Doubts have increased about the holding of a round of military negotiations between Lebanon and Israel in Florida, before the US midterm elections, as a political source directly concerned with the negotiations told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, has not yet brought with him anything new regarding confirming the date of the meeting.

The session was scheduled to be held between October 20 and 22, but Lebanon has not yet received any confirmation of the date of the session. Lebanon hopes to convince the United States to confirm its hosting of the military meeting before the Knesset elections in Israel on October 27, and later the midterm elections in America on November 3.

A Lebanese source said that he has no interest in postponing the negotiations until after the completion of these two electoral elections.

Yemen's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Abdullah Al-Saadi, said that the Houthi militias expanded their attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting airports, facilities, and civilian and economic objects.

Al-Saadi stressed in his country’s statement delivered today before the Security Council during the open session devoted to discussing the situation in Yemen, that “these crimes once again reveal the reality of the Houthi militias as a terrorist group that does not hesitate to target civilians and vital institutions in an attempt to shuffle the cards and divert attention from the violations and crimes it has been practicing against the Yemenis for years in the service of Iranian interests in the region.”

Al-Saadi explained that the Yemeni armed forces, with the support of the Saudi-led coalition, are defending the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab, thus protecting a vital artery on which the entire global economy depends.

He added: “If freedom of navigation is a common interest, then protecting it is also a shared responsibility, and the Yemenis should not be left to bear its cost alone.”

Ambassador Al-Saadi called on the Security Council to take a clear position that holds the Houthi militias responsible for the escalation and work to effectively implement the Council’s decisions, most notably Resolution No. (2216), and to take practical and firm measures to limit financing and smuggling networks and stop the flow of weapons, technology, expertise, and military and dual-use components to the Houthi militias.

The Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations stressed the accountability of the parties behind this support for the Houthi militia, especially the Iranian regime, and the strengthening of cooperation with the Yemeni government to confront the smuggling and financing networks that fuel the war.

Ambassador Al-Saadi appreciated Saudi Arabia's steadfast positions and its continued support for state institutions and the national economy, including providing a new impetus to support the general budget at the beginning of this month at a time when the country is facing unprecedented economic and humanitarian challenges.

The Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations noted the directive of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz, in response to the request of President Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi, Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council in Yemen, to take measures to correct the conditions of Yemenis who are in the Kingdom irregularly, describing this directive as a very important humanitarian initiative.

Ambassador Al-Saadi said: Saudi Arabia’s positions embody the fact that the international community’s responsibility towards Yemen should not stop at the limits of managing the crisis or responding to its security repercussions, but rather should extend to protecting the Yemeni human being.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that an Israeli attack took place on Friday in the northeast of the country, near the Syrian border, wounding six people, specifically in an area that has remained largely untouched by similar incidents since the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

The ministry said, “The Israeli attack in the vicinity of the town of Hosh al-Sayyid Ali in the Hermel district resulted in 6 wounded, including 5 of Syrian nationality, including two women, in addition to a Lebanese wounded,” according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.

The official National News Agency reported that “an enemy military drone targeted a car in Hosh al-Sayyid Ali.”

Lebanon entered the war on March 2 after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel, which it said were in response to the killing of Iranian guide Ali Khamenei in the first American and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

Israel responded with an intense campaign of raids and a ground incursion by its forces, which occupied dozens of towns and villages in southern Lebanon, and with large-scale bombing operations.

The pace of violence declined after the United States and Iran concluded a memorandum of understanding in June, and the Lebanese and Israeli governments signed, under American sponsorship, a framework agreement that stipulated the disarmament of Hezbollah, the gradual withdrawal of the Hebrew state from the lands it occupies in southern Lebanon, and the deployment of the Lebanese army, starting from “experimental” areas.

On Thursday, the Israeli army announced that an officer was killed and three soldiers were slightly injured in southern Lebanon.