US envoy to Yemen Lenderking calls on donor countries to ‘step up’ pledges

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US envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking speaks during an interview with Yemeni American News in Michigan during a visit to meet members of the Yemeni-American community. (Screenshot/Twitter/@StateDept_NEA)
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Updated 19 August 2021
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US envoy to Yemen Lenderking calls on donor countries to ‘step up’ pledges

  • Tim Lenderking says COVID-19 is a serious problem in Yemen and is compounding the other humanitarian challenges that exist
  • ‘Our interests as to ensure Al-Qaeda and Daesh do not regain a foothold inside Yemen,’ he said in an interview with Yemeni American News in Michigan

LONDON: The US envoy to Yemen called on donor countries to “step up” contributions at an upcoming pledging conference, hosted by the Biden administration in New York in September.
“The UN is in constant need of financial support to carry out any programs that it does that really make a difference inside Yemen, including feeding people who would otherwise starve, working on sanitation, improving distribution networks, rehabilitating ports, a lot of this is being done with international funding, so that funding has got to increase,” Tim Lenderking said during an interview with Yemeni American News.
He said since the conflict began, the US has provided more than $3.6 billion. USAID last week announced an additional $165 million in humanitarian assistance.
“Compared to the needs, it’s a small amount but this is going to be a collective effort and so we need other countries to step up,” Lenderking said during a visit to Michigan where he also met with Yemeni-American community members.




US envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking speaks during an interview with Yemeni American News in Michigan during a visit to meet members of the Yemeni-American community. (Screenshot/Twitter/@StateDept_NEA)

Most of the additional aid is going to the World Food Programme to bring immediate relief to Yemeni people, while some of it will also go toward COVID-19 relief.
“COVID is a serious problem in Yemen...it’s under reported, it needs to be addressed by the authorities in Yemen, it’s a serious problem, and it’s only compounding the other humanitarian challenges that exist,” Lenderking said.
He also said most of their funding does not go to the Yemeni government or the Iran-backed Houthi militia, but does help support programs and NGO’s operating in “hot areas of Yemen that are controlled by the Houthis,” adding: “This should not be political, this is money that’s going to help people who need it.”
Lenderking said that the US is open to dialogue with any party in Yemen except those whom it has designated as terrorist organizations.
“Our interests as to ensure Al-Qaeda (and Daesh) do not regain a foothold inside Yemen” and expand their presence or have outsiders play a role in exacerbating or extending the civil war.
“I could also mention the very negative role that Iran plays in the conflict,” he said. “This is a great opportunity for Iran to show a new face to the region and to the world by engaging in a constructive way in Yemen rather than fueling the conflict.”

Lenderking said the main thing that the US administration is doing is to try to create “a sense that peace in Yemen is possible.” Asides from ending the war, which is their main objective, Washington is also focusing on humanitarian assistance, implementing a nationwide cease-fire, opening ports and airports and lifting the remaining restrictions to improve the lives of the Yemeni people, he added.
“We know that the situation is urgent, there are people dying on a daily basis, it’s a tragic situation,” he said, adding that his appointment as envoy by US President Joe Biden in February and his announcement that Yemen was a foreign policy priority was “a big deal.”
Since then, he said the Yemeni crisis has gained momentum and “there is an international consensus about the urgency of ending the war that did not exist before January.”
He said there has been significant development in the UN’s peace plan and that the appointment of new UN envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg is going to add further momentum.
“We are trying to bring the influence we have and you will see more pressure exerted by us on the parties moving forward and it will drive an international resolution to the conflict,” he said.
The US wants to see Yemen back as a fully functioning part of the Arabian peninsula and a source of stability for the region, he said, expressing hope that the US can reopen its embassy in Sanaa in the near future. He also said that the US hopes people will come to appreciate Yemen for its rich culture and heritage and beauty and not associate it with war.


Netanyahu says UK-French-Canada condemnation gives ‘huge prize’ to Hamas

Updated 20 May 2025
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Netanyahu says UK-French-Canada condemnation gives ‘huge prize’ to Hamas

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday hit back at condemnation of his country’s military offensive in Gaza by the leaders of France, Canada and Britain saying they had given a “huge prize” to Hamas.
“By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottawa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities,” Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to the October 2023 attack that set off the Gaza war.


Palestinian hospital chief calls for pressure on Israel

Updated 20 May 2025
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Palestinian hospital chief calls for pressure on Israel

HELSINKI: An East Jerusalem hospital chief told AFP on Monday that Gaza was in a “catastrophic” state after weeks of a complete blockade of humanitarian aid and called on countries to act to end the suffering of civilians.
Fadi Atrash, chief executive of the Augusta Victoria-Hospital in East Jerusalem — which helps Palestinians from the occupied territories and Gaza — said he could no longer “find the words” to describe the crisis faced by people in war-torn Gaza.
“We are facing a very, very critical and catastrophic situation,” he said, with all components of the health care system destroyed, and health care workers “running out of energy.”
Augusta Victoria, which had a hospital in Gaza that has been destroyed in Israeli bombings now provides health care in Gaza with the limited resources available, Atrash said.
Atrash visited Finland — which has not recognized Palestine as a state — on Monday as part of a tour of the Nordic countries.
“My main message for the Nordic countries is to put pressure to stop the war, to stop the killing.”
Humanitarian food, medical and fuel supplies have been blocked from entering Gaza for 11 weeks, and the World Health Organization has warned that two million people face starvation.
Finland’s President Alexander Stubb joined other European leaders on Monday to call on Israel to guarantee the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Stubb also said “forced displacement of populations is a war crime and cannot form part of any solution,” in a post on X.
Israel this month approved an expanded military offensive in Gaza but has agreed to let limited aid into Gaza.


Gaza civil defense says 91 killed in Israeli strikes Monday

Updated 20 May 2025
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Gaza civil defense says 91 killed in Israeli strikes Monday

GAZA CITY: A Gaza civil defense official said that 91 people were killed in strikes and attacks throughout Monday as Israel steps up an offensive in the Palestinian territory.
The deaths had been recorded since the early hours of Monday, according to Mohammed Al-Mughayyir, an official in the civil defense agency of the Hamas-run territory. The department had earlier given a toll of 52 dead.


Yemen’s Houthis threaten Israeli port

Updated 20 May 2025
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Yemen’s Houthis threaten Israeli port

SANAA: Yemen’s Houthis said Monday that they would target Haifa port in Israel as part of a “naval blockade” in response to Israeli escalation in the Gaza war.
The Houthis would “begin working to enforce a naval blockade of the port of Haifa,” said military spokesman Yehya Saree.
“All companies with ships present in or heading to this port are hereby notified that, as of the time of this announcement, the aforementioned port has been included in the target bank,” the Houthi spokesman added.
The move was “in response to the Israeli enemy’s escalation of its brutal aggression against our people and in Gaza,” he said, adding their attacks on Israel would “cease once the aggression on Gaza ends and the blockade is lifted.”
Earlier on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country will “take control” of the whole of Gaza, as rescuers reported dozens killed in a newly intensified offensive.


One SDF fighter killed in attack by Daesh in eastern Syria

The Syrian Democratic Forces said on Monday that one of its fighters was killed and another injured in an attack by Daesh.
Updated 19 May 2025
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One SDF fighter killed in attack by Daesh in eastern Syria

  • SDF reached an agreement in March to integrate with the Syrian government
  • Syria’s new authorities have clashed with Daesh fighters, particularly in the east

CAIRO: The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a militia group led by Kurdish fighters, said on Monday that one of its fighters was killed and another injured in an attack by Daesh in Syria’s eastern Deir el-Zor region.
The SDF was the main fighting force allied to the United States in Syria during fighting that defeated Daesh in 2019 after the group declared a caliphate across swathes of Syria and Iraq.
The SDF reached an agreement in March to integrate with the Syrian government, now led by former militants who toppled President Bashar Assad last year.
Syria’s new authorities have clashed with Daesh fighters, particularly in the east. Last month, Daesh killed five SDF fighters in one of the deadliest recent attacks against the group.