Keeping Yemen out of a broader Middle East conflict is our key goal, US special envoy Tim Lenderking tells Arab News

An Unga Tim Lenderking 1 270924
0 seconds of 41 secondsVolume 90%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
Next Up
An Unga Tim Lenderking 2 270924
01:16
00:00
00:41
00:41
 
Short Url
Updated 28 September 2024
Follow

Keeping Yemen out of a broader Middle East conflict is our key goal, US special envoy Tim Lenderking tells Arab News

Keeping Yemen out of a broader Middle East conflict is our key goal, US special envoy Tim Lenderking tells Arab News
  • Special envoy says Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping are not helping the Palestinians, aid efforts, or regional economies
  • Speaking during the UN General Assembly, Lenderking says the US would like to see Iran play a constructive role on Yemen

NEW YORK CITY: The world cannot lose sight of Yemen as the country’s long-running peace process risks becoming collateral damage to a regional conflict, the US special envoy for Yemen has told Arab News.

Tim Lenderking is in New York City against the backdrop of the UN General Assembly to help rally international support for a solution to Yemen’s decade-long civil war.

A truce negotiated in April 2022 between warring parties in Yemen initially led to a fall in violence and a slight easing of the dire humanitarian situation. However, events elsewhere in the Middle East risk derailing this progress.

“I do feel very strongly that a lot of progress was made in ways that meant something to the Yemeni people,” Lenderking said. “Commercial flights are still operating out of Sanaa airport for the first time since 2016. There’s so much we could do to build on this progress.

“There was a big prisoner release a year ago. We want to keep the dialogue going, to release the remaining prisoners from the Yemen conflict — they are missed by their loved ones, by their families.”




CaptionYemen’s President Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi speaks during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 26, 2024. (AFP)

Lenderking said US officials were currently exploring opportunities for renewed progress on the Yemen peace track. They are engaged in a “broad conversation” with Yemeni leaders in New York City, including President Rashad Al-Alimi, as well as his vice presidents and foreign minister.

“We’ve had several meetings with him already,” said Lenderking, describing the Yemeni delegation as “strong.”

He added: “We just finished a meeting with nine countries that came to show their respect for the Yemeni government, to pledge their support and to encourage the Yemeni government to remain united, effective, visible, reaching out to the Yemeni people demonstrating that the government is there, is functioning well, and is trying to meet the needs of the people.”  

Since the war began in Gaza last October, Yemen’s Houthi militia — which controls vast swaths of territory in the country including the capital, Sanaa — declared a blockade of all Israel-linked ships crossing the Red Sea.




Houthi fighters protest in Sanaa on January 12, 2024 following US and British forces strikes in a bid to stop the militia's drone and missile attacks against commercial shipping on the Red Sea. (AFP)

The Iran-backed armed political and religious group views itself as a part of the Iranian-led “Axis of Resistance” against Israel, the US and the West.

It has threatened to continue its attacks on vessels until Israel ends its assault on Gaza. Since January, the UK and the US, in coalition with five other countries, have responded with retaliatory strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

The Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel and subsequent war in Gaza has had significant knock-on effects on Yemen, a country already reeling from nine years of war.

Publicized as a stand of defiance against Israel and a demonstration of solidarity with the Palestinian people, hundreds of attacks by the Houthis on commercial and military vessels in the strategic waterway have caused significant disruption to global trade.

Two vessels have been sunk.




This picture taken on March 7, 2024 shows the Rubymar cargo ship partly submerged off the coast of Yemen after it was hit by a Houthi missile. (AFP/File)

Lenderking, however, believes the Houthi campaign is a “self-serving agenda” that is failing to help Gaza.

“The attacks on Red Sea shipping are actually hampering commercial goods and humanitarian supplies getting into Yemen, and they’re hurting regional economies,” he said. “So, we want to look at ways that we can de-escalate — that has been our central mission ever since Gaza.

“And it’s also to keep Yemen away from these broader regional conflicts that it could be dragged into. That would be very damaging for the hopes that we have for Yemen.”

The UN’s Yemen envoy, Hans Grundberg, told the Security Council earlier this month that the war in Gaza, and the regional escalation associated with it, is complicating his diplomatic efforts to move the peace process forward.




Explosion rocks the Chios Lion, a Liberia-flagged crude oil tanker, after it was hit by unmanned surface vessels in the Red Sea on July 15, 2024. (Ansarullah Media Center handout photo/Via AFP)

Lenderking conceded that separating the two conflicts was “very difficult.”

“But we have sought to do that, and we’ve put ideas on the table and made suggestions,” he said.

Part of that diplomatic push involved Saudi Arabia and Oman, who “have such a strong stake in the outcome of the conflict.”

“Those two countries want peace … and the Yemeni people, above all, I think they deserve peace after many years of bloodshed and destruction,” he said.

“So, there is a moment, still, where we can try to harness the goodwill, the energy of the international community, to support a peace effort in Yemen.”




Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman meeting with a Houthi delegation in Riyadh on Sept. 19, 2023. (SPA/File)

Aidarus Al-Zubaidi, leader of the Southern Transitional Council, a faction in the civil war opposed to the Houthis, warned this week that US and UK airstrikes on Yemen were causing a spike in popularity for the militia.

But Lenderking described any support for the Houthis as “fundamentally misguided.”

“If you look at their actual engagements and attacks, these are harmful to the Yemeni people, and they don’t help the Palestinian people,” he said.

“And that is the reality, and I think every country around the region knows that and sees the Houthi attacks as a self-serving agenda.

“So, we need to hear more voices from the region saying: ‘Wait a minute, what are the Houthis doing? Is it helping Yemen or is it hurting the prospects for more humanitarian assistance, and aid and development?’.”

The humanitarian situation in Yemen has also become markedly worse in recent months amid rising food insecurity, the spread of cholera and major flooding in sections of the country.




Displaced Yemenis affected by floods receive humanitarian aid in the Hays region on September 9, 2024. (AFP)

Efforts by the UN and its partners to respond to these crises have faced challenges stemming from a lack of funding and a shrinking humanitarian operating space.

In June, the Houthis detained 13 Yemeni national staff employed by UN agencies and more than 50 NGO and civil society organization employees who remain under detention.

Lenderking warned against “complicating the work of humanitarian people who are there to support the Yemeni people.”

At the UN General Assembly, Lenderking is also “trying to harness more international support for Yemen” from donors, who, he conceded, were facing “huge challenges and pressures from the terrible humanitarian situation in Gaza and Ukraine.”

“I feel that there’s much more that could be done,” he added.

“How do we keep Yemen in the focus and bringing resources to Yemen, bringing support to the Yemeni government, and having the tremendous energy that comes from the international community supporting this conflict? That’s what we’re trying to maintain and even build on.”  




A handout picture released by the Houthi-affiliated branch of the Yemeni News Agency SABA on April 9, 2023, shows the militia's political leader Mahdi al-Mashat (C) meeting with delegations from Saudi Arabia and Oman in Sanaa. (SABA/AFP)

Iran’s sponsorship of the Houthis is causing headaches for those supporting the peace track.

Tehran publicly welcomed the truce in Yemen two years ago, but nonetheless continued the fueling and arming of the Houthis in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, said Lenderking.

Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, signaled to world leaders on Tuesday that he wanted to open a “constructive” chapter in his country’s foreign policy.

“I aim to lay a strong foundation for my country’s entry into a new era, positioning it to play an effective and constructive role in the evolving global order,” said Pezeshkian.

But Lenderking has questions over the change in tone.

“I think people are looking forward to hearing what the Iranian leadership has to say about the state of tension in the region, and whether they are bringing anything new that can be constructive,” he said.




UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (right) welcomes Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian ahead of their meeting at UN headquarters in New York on September 24, 2024. (Iranian Presidency handout photo/AFP) 

“We’re hearing some flowery words and some nice words, but what are the Iranians actually committed to doing to de-escalate? Because I think that is the goal that we seek, and certainly in the case of Yemen, we’d like to see Iran play a constructive role. Let’s bring the temperature down and find a way to get back to a sustainable peace track in Yemen.”  

Lenderking’s focus during the UN General Assembly has been to bring Yemen back into focus among policymakers and donors.

“There are some conflicts that are absolutely raging. We look at what’s happening in Gaza, and we look at problems and challenges in Sudan and elsewhere. Ukraine, of course.

“We’re here, my team, with regional support, to use this incredible platform here to remind people Yemen is a beautiful and rich country that wants to return to its position as a stable country and a stable neighbor.

“We can get there with strong support, and so reminding the international community of the importance of Yemen and not having Yemen dragged into a broader regional conflict is our key goal here.”




Al-Khuraybah, a town in Wadi Dawan region in Yemen's Hadhramaut governorate, is one of Yemen's treasures that have thankfully be spared by war. US special envoy Tim Lenderking says Yemen is a beautiful and rich country and the world ought to help return it to its position as a stable country and a stable neighbor. (Shutterstock photo)

What is at stake in Yemen was driven home this week at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, where an exhibition was held for 14 Yemeni sculptures that were recently repatriated from a private donor in New Zealand.

Lenderking, who described the artworks as “incredible,” said the exhibition “symbolizes the unity of Yemen’s cultural heritage.”

He added: “Any Yemeni party could agree this is a country with cultural depth that has a beautiful legacy and incredible history and has been influential in the region in a very positive way.

“And wouldn’t it be great if we could work together so that Yemen can play that historical role and move out of the fires of war?”

 

 


Foreign ministers of five countries condemn Israeli plan to seize Gaza City

Foreign ministers of five countries condemn Israeli plan to seize Gaza City
Updated 09 August 2025
Follow

Foreign ministers of five countries condemn Israeli plan to seize Gaza City

Foreign ministers of five countries condemn Israeli plan to seize Gaza City
  • Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City, escalating military operations in the devastated Palestinian territory

GAZA: The foreign ministers of Australia, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom on Friday strongly condemned the Israeli Security Cabinet’s decision to launch a new large-scale military operation in Gaza.

“The plans that the Government of Israel has announced risk violating international humanitarian law,” the ministers said in a joint statement.

Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City, escalating military operations in the devastated Palestinian territory. The move drew renewed criticism at home and abroad on Friday, as concerns mounted over the nearly two-year-old war. 

 


Turkiye hails US-brokered Armenia-Azerbaijan deal

Turkiye hails US-brokered Armenia-Azerbaijan deal
Updated 09 August 2025
Follow

Turkiye hails US-brokered Armenia-Azerbaijan deal

Turkiye hails US-brokered Armenia-Azerbaijan deal
  • “At a time when international conflicts and crises are intensifying, this step constitutes a highly significant development for the promotion of regional peace and stability

ISTANBUL: Turkiye hailed an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan as progress toward a “lasting peace” on Friday after US President Donald Trump declared the foes had committed to permanently end hostilities.

“We welcome the progress achieved toward establishing a lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and the commitment recorded in Washington today in this regard,” Turkiye’s foreign ministry said, in a statement.

“At a time when international conflicts and crises are intensifying, this step constitutes a highly significant development for the promotion of regional peace and stability. We commend the contributions of the US administration in this process.”

 


Hunger and disease spreading in war-torn Sudan, WHO says

Hunger and disease spreading in war-torn Sudan, WHO says
Updated 08 August 2025
Follow

Hunger and disease spreading in war-torn Sudan, WHO says

Hunger and disease spreading in war-torn Sudan, WHO says
  • 770,000 children under 5 years old are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year

LONDON: Hunger and disease are spreading in war-torn Sudan, with famine already present in several areas, 25 million people acutely food insecure, and nearly 100,000 cholera cases recorded since last July, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

Sudan’s conflict between the army and rival Rapid Support Forces has displaced millions and split the country into rival zones of control, with the RSF still deeply embedded in western Sudan, and funding cuts are hampering humanitarian aid.

“Relentless violence has pushed Sudan’s health system to the edge, adding to a crisis marked by hunger, illness, and despair,” WHO Senior Emergency Officer Ilham Nour said in a statement.

BACKGROUND

Cholera has hit a camp for Darfur refugees in neighboring eastern Chad, the UN refugee agency said on Friday.

“Exacerbating the disease burden is hunger,” she said, adding that about 770,000 children under 5 years old are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year.

Cholera has also hit a camp for Darfur refugees in eastern Chad, the UN refugee agency said on Friday.

The World Health Organization said nearly 100,000 cholera cases had been reported in Sudan since July last year.

An outbreak in the Dougui refugee settlement has so far resulted in 264 cases and 12 deaths, said Patrice Ahouansou, UNHCR’s situation coordinator in the region, leading the agency to suspend the relocation of refugees from the border with Sudan to prevent new cases.

“Without urgent action, including enhancing access to medical treatment, to clean water, to sanitation, to hygiene, and most importantly, relocation from the border, many more lives are on the line,” Ahouansou told a briefing in Geneva.

Oral cholera vaccination campaigns had been conducted in several states, including the capital Khartoum, he told a press conference with the Geneva UN correspondents’ association ACANU.

“While we are seeing a declining trend in numbers, there are gaps in disease surveillance, and progress is fragile,” he said.

“Recent floods, affecting large parts of the country, are expected to worsen hunger and fuel more outbreaks of cholera, malaria, dengue, and other diseases.”

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that spreads through food and water contaminated with bacteria, often from feces. It causes severe diarrhea, vomiting, and muscle cramps.

Cholera can kill within hours when not attended to, though it can be treated with simple oral rehydration and antibiotics for more severe cases.

There has been a global increase in cholera cases and their geographical spread since 2021.

“In Sudan, unrelenting violence has led to widespread hunger, disease, and suffering,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“Cholera has swept across Sudan, with all states reporting outbreaks. Nearly 100,000 cases have been reported since July last year.”

As for hunger, Tedros said there were reports from El-Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur state, that people were eating animal feed to survive.

“In the first six months of this year, nutrition centers supported by WHO have treated more than 17,000 severely malnourished children with medical complications. But many more are beyond reach,” Tedros warned.

The UN health agency’s efforts were being hindered by limited access and a lack of funding, he added, with the WHO having received less than a third of the money it had appealed for to provide urgent health assistance in Sudan.

The WHO director-general said that as long as the violence continues in Sudan, “we can expect to see more hunger, more displacement and more disease.”

 


Plans to take Gaza City are met with defiance from war-weary Palestinians and anger by many Israelis

Plans to take Gaza City are met with defiance from war-weary Palestinians and anger by many Israelis
Updated 08 August 2025
Follow

Plans to take Gaza City are met with defiance from war-weary Palestinians and anger by many Israelis

Plans to take Gaza City are met with defiance from war-weary Palestinians and anger by many Israelis
  • “What does (Israel) want from us? ... There is nothing here to occupy,” said a woman in Gaza City
  • Ruby Chen, a dual US-Israeli citizen whose son, Itay, is a hostage held in Gaza, told AP that the decision puts the remaining hostages in danger

TEL AVIV: Israel’s decision to take over Gaza City was met with resignation and defiance by Palestinians who have survived two years of war and repeated raids. Many Israelis responded with fear and anger, worried it could be a death sentence for hostages held in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday that Israel would intensify its 22-month war with Hamas by taking over Gaza City, large parts of which have been destroyed by past bombardment and ground incursions.

A major ground operation is almost sure to cause more mass displacement and worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

“What does (Israel) want from us? ... There is nothing here to occupy,” said a woman in Gaza City who identified herself as Umm Youssef. “There is no life here. I have to walk every day for more than 15 minutes to get drinking water.”

Ruby Chen, a dual US-Israeli citizen whose son, Itay, is a hostage held in Gaza, told The Associated Press that the decision puts the remaining hostages in danger.

“What is the plan now that is different from the last 22 months?” he said.

Ehud Olmert, a former prime minister and harsh critic of Netanyahu, told the AP “there’s not any objective that can be achieved that’s worth the cost of the lives of the hostages, the soldiers” and civilians, echoing concerns expressed by many former top security officials in Israel.

‘I will die here’

Netanyahu says military pressure is key to achieving Israel’s war goals of returning all the hostages and destroying Hamas. On Thursday, he told Fox News that Israel intends to eventually take over all of Gaza and hand it over to a friendly Arab civilian administration.

But Hamas has survived nearly two years of war and several large-scale ground operations, including in Gaza City. In a statement, the militant group said the people of Gaza would “remain defiant against occupation” and warned Israel that the incursion “will not be a walk in the park.”

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled Gaza City in the opening weeks of the war, the first of several mass displacements. Many returned during a ceasefire earlier this year. Now, residents say they are too busy searching for food and trying to survive amid the city’s bombed-out buildings and tent camps to think about another exodus.

“I have no intention to leave my home, I will die here,” said Kamel Abu Nahel from the city’s urban Shati refugee camp.

Israel already controls and has largely destroyed around 75 percent of the Gaza Strip, with most of its population of some 2 million Palestinians now sheltering in Gaza City, the central city of Deir Al-Balah and the sprawling displacement camps in the Muwasi area along the coast.

The offensive has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians. It says women and children make up around half the dead. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of casualties, while Israel disputes them.

Ismail Zaydah said he and his family had remained in Gaza City throughout the war.

“This is our land, there is no other place for us to go,” he said. “We are not surrendering ... We were born here, and here we die.”

‘This madman called Netanyahu’

Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that started the war and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Though most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals, 50 are still in Gaza, less than half of them believed by Israel to be alive.

Relatives of many of the hostages and their supporters have repeatedly protested against the continuation of the war, demanding that Israel reach a ceasefire with Hamas that would include the return of their loved ones. The long-running talks broke down last month.

“Somebody’s got to stop this madman called Netanyahu,” said Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is held hostage. He said faith in the United States to help is also dwindling. “I lost hope with Donald Trump ... he’s letting Netanyahu just do whatever he likes,” he said.

But other Israelis voiced support for the decision.

“They need to go after Hamas,” said Susan Makin, a Tel Aviv resident. “Why are they not asking why Hamas has not given back the hostages and put (down) their arms?”

The agony around the plight of the hostages has worsened in recent days as Palestinians militants have released videos showing two of the captives emaciated and pleading for their lives. Families fear their loved ones, who may be held in other parts of Gaza, are running out time.

Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general and chairman of Israel’s Defense and Security Forum, said there are a few hostages in Gaza City and the army will have to decide how to manage the situation.

He said they might be able to surround the hostages and negotiate directly with their captors or leave those areas untouched. Under pressure, Hamas might decide to release the captives, he said.

That strategy carries great risk. Last year, Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six hostages who were killed by their captors when troops approached the tunnel where they were being held.


Cruelty becoming enemy of peace in Gaza, UN torture expert warns after hostage videos emerge

Cruelty becoming enemy of peace in Gaza, UN torture expert warns after hostage videos emerge
Updated 08 August 2025
Follow

Cruelty becoming enemy of peace in Gaza, UN torture expert warns after hostage videos emerge

Cruelty becoming enemy of peace in Gaza, UN torture expert warns after hostage videos emerge
  • Alice Jill Edwards calls for immediate release of all hostages, reiterates that aiding and abetting hostage-taking is also a crime under international law
  • Disturbing videos released this week by captors ‘should be proof enough’ of cruelty inflicted on hostages, she says; also calls for release of Palestinians held in Israeli jails

NEW YORK CITY: The UN’s special rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards, on Friday reiterated her urgent call for the unconditional and immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, after disturbing videos showing severely emaciated captives emerged this week.

“Cruelty is being used as psychological warfare, with devastating consequences for individuals, families, societies and for peace,” Edwards said from Geneva.

She warned that the conflict in Gaza is increasingly being fought in the public arena, with graphic media coverage intensifying the psychological harm.

Last weekend, Hamas released a disturbing video of 24-year-old Evyatar David, an Israeli taken hostage at the Nova Music Festival during the Oct. 7 attacks.

He appeared extremely thin and pale, so much so that his father said he barely recognized his son. The video showed David, under the control of his Hamas captors, being forced to dig what appeared to be his own grave inside a narrow underground tunnel.

Out of respect for the wishes of David’s family, the video is not being shown as they believe he is being used for cruel propaganda purposes. They called for urgent international action to help secure his release.

Edwards said that it is not only hostage-takers who could be held criminally liable under international law, but also any individuals or groups that aid in concealment or detention.

“Anyone involved must be held to account for their involvement, in a court of law,” she said.

She also appealed to countries with influence in the region to help break the deadlock in ceasefire negotiations, and called for international observers to be granted immediate access to all hostages and detainees.

“If anyone was immune to the cruelty being inflicted on the hostages, these latest videos should be proof enough,” Edwards said.

She also repeated her broader calls for an end to hostilities in Gaza, the urgent expansion of humanitarian aid to the territory, the release of arbitrarily detained Palestinians, and independent investigations into all alleged violations of international law.

She urged all parties to resume negotiations toward a comprehensive peace settlement based on a two-state solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Special rapporteurs are part of what is known as the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council. They are independent experts who work on a voluntary basis, are not members of UN staff and are not paid for their work.