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

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Updated 28 September 2024
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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?”
 

 


Illinois landlord to be sentenced in hate crime that left 6-year-old Palestinian American boy dead

Updated 3 sec ago
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Illinois landlord to be sentenced in hate crime that left 6-year-old Palestinian American boy dead

  • A jury convicted 73-year-old Joseph Czuba in February of murder and hate crime charges in the fatal stabbing of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen
  • The family had been renting rooms in Czuba’s home in the Chicago suburb of Plainfield in 2023 when the attack happened
JOLIET: An Illinois landlord found guilty of a vicious hate crime that left a 6-year-old Muslim boy dead and wounded his mother days after the start of the war in Gaza in 2023 was due in court Friday for sentencing.
A jury convicted 73-year-old Joseph Czuba in February of murder and hate crime charges in the fatal stabbing of Wadee Alfayoumi, who was Palestinian American, and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen. The family had been renting rooms in Czuba’s home in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago, in 2023 when the attack happened.
Central to prosecutors’ case was harrowing testimony from the boy’s mother, who said Czuba attacked her before moving on to her son, insisting they had to leave because they were Muslim. Prosecutors also played the 911 call and showed police footage. Czuba’s wife, Mary, whom he has since divorced, also testified for the prosecution, saying he had become agitated about the Israel-Hamas war, which had erupted days earlier.
Police said Czuba pulled a knife from a holder on a belt and stabbed the boy 26 times, leaving the knife in the child’s body. Some of the bloody crime scene photos were so explicit that the judge agreed to turn television screens showing them away from the audience, which included Wadee’s relatives.
“He could not escape,” Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state’s attorney, told jurors at trial. “If it wasn’t enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy’s body.”
The jury deliberated for 90 minutes before returning a verdict. Czuba is eligible for a minimum prison sentence of 20 to 60 years or life, according to the Will County state’s attorney’s office.
Prosecutors declined to comment ahead of Friday’s hearing and have not said what sentence they will seek. Illinois does not have the death penalty.
The attack renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit particularly hard in Plainfield and surrounding suburbs, which have a large and established Palestinian community. Wadee’s funeral drew large crowds and Plainfield officials have dedicated a park playground in his honor.
Czuba did not speak during the trial. His defense attorneys argued that there were holes in the case. His public defender, George Lenard, has not addressed reporters and declined comment ahead of the sentencing.
Shaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover.
She said there were no prior issues in the two years she rented from the Czubas, even sharing a kitchen and a living room.
Then after the start of the war, Czuba told her that they had to move out because Muslims were not welcome. He later confronted Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and trying to break her teeth.
“He told me ‘You, as a Muslim, must die,’” said Shaheen, who testified in English and Arabic though a translator.
Police testified that officers found Czuba outside the house, sitting on the ground with blood on his body and hands.
Separately, lawsuits have been filed over the boy’s death, including by his father, Odai Alfayoumi, who is divorced from Shaheen and was not living with them. The US Department of Justice also launched a federal hate crimes investigation.

Lebanon warns Hamas not to conduct operations that compromise Lebanon’s sovereignty

Updated 9 min 55 sec ago
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Lebanon warns Hamas not to conduct operations that compromise Lebanon’s sovereignty

BEIRUT: Lebanon has warned the Palestinian militant group Hamas not to conduct operations that compromise Lebanon’s sovereignty, Beirut’s supreme defense council said on Friday.


Top UN court wraps a week of hearings on humanitarian aid to Gaza

Updated 47 min 40 sec ago
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Top UN court wraps a week of hearings on humanitarian aid to Gaza

  • The proceedings are taking place as the humanitarian aid system in Gaza is nearing collapse and ceasefire efforts remain deadlocked
  • Israel has blocked the entry of food, fuel, medicine and other humanitarian supplies since March 2

THE HAGUE: The top United Nations court on Friday wraps a week of hearings on what Israel must do to ensure desperately needed humanitarian aid reaches Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Last year, the UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on Israel’s legal obligations after the country effectively banned the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the main provider of aid to Gaza, from operating.
Experts say the case could have broader ramifications for the United Nations and its missions worldwide.
The hearings are taking place as the humanitarian aid system in Gaza is nearing collapse and ceasefire efforts remain deadlocked. Israel has blocked the entry of food, fuel, medicine and other humanitarian supplies since March 2. It renewed its bombardment on March 18, breaking a ceasefire, and seized large parts of the territory, saying it aims to push Hamas to release more hostages.
Israel denies deliberately targeting civilians and aid staff as part of its war with Hamas and did not attend the hearing. The country did provide a 38-page written submission for the court to consider.
What is at stake?
The hearings focused on provision of aid to the Palestinians, but the UN court’s 15 judges could use their advisory opinion to give legal guidance on the powers of the world body.
“The court has the opportunity to clarify and address questions about the legal immunities of the United Nations,” Mike Becker, an expert on international human rights law at Trinity College Dublin, told The Associated Press.
Advisory opinions issued by the UN court are described as “nonbinding” as there are no direct penalties attached to ignoring them. However, the treaty that covers the protections that countries must give to United Nations personnel says that disputes should be resolved through an advisory opinion at the ICJ and the opinion “shall be accepted as decisive by the parties.”
“The oddity of this particular process,” Becker said, “is a clear response to any argument that the opinion is nonbinding.”
What has the ICJ been tasked with answering?
The resolution, sponsored by Norway, seeks the ICJ’s guidance on “obligations of Israel … in relation to the presence and activities of the United Nations … to ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies essential to the survival of the Palestinian civilian population.” The United States, Israel’s closest ally, voted against it.
Israel’s ban on the agency, known as UNRWA, which provides aid to Gaza, came into effect in January. The organization has faced increased criticism from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies, who claim the group is deeply infiltrated by Hamas. UNRWA rejects that claim.
“We cannot let states pick and choose where the UN is going to do its work. This advisory opinion is a very important opportunity to reinforce that,” Becker said.
Do these proceedings matter for countries other than Israel?
Whatever the judges decide will have an impact beyond the current situation in Gaza, according to Juliette McIntyre, an expert on international law at the University of South Australia. “Are these immunities absolute or is there wiggle room? This is useful for where United Nations personnel are working in other places,” McIntire told AP.
An authoritative answer from the World Court can have influence beyond judicial proceedings as well. “Every time a norm is breached, the norm gets weaker. The advisory opinion in this case could push the norm back,” said McIntyre.
In separate proceedings last year, the court issued an unprecedented and sweeping condemnation of Israel’s rule over the occupied Palestinian territories, finding Israel’s presence unlawful and calling for it to end. The ICJ said Israel had no right to sovereignty in the territories, was violating international laws against acquiring territory by force and was impeding Palestinians’ right to self-determination.
According to McIntyre, the arguments presented this week reflect the opinion handed down just nine months ago. “Now the starting premise is that Israel is illegally occupying all of Palestine,” McIntire said.
What did the Palestinians and Israelis say?
On Monday, the Palestinian delegation accused Israel of breaching international law in the occupied territories and applauded the move to bring more proceedings to the court. “Our journey with the international institutions, be it Security Council, the General Assembly or the ICJ, is we are building things block on top of another block while we are marching toward the accomplishment of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including our right to self-determination, statehood, and the right of the refugees,” Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour told reporters.
Israel has denied it is in violation of international law and said the proceedings are biased. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar hit back at the case during a news conference in Jerusalem on Monday. “I accuse UNRWA, I accuse the UN, I accuse the secretary-general and I accuse all those that weaponized international law and its institutions in order to deprive the most attacked country in the world, Israel, of its most basic right to defend itself,” he said.
The court is expected to take months to deliver its opinion.


Israel downs Yemen-fired missile claimed by Houthis

Updated 02 May 2025
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Israel downs Yemen-fired missile claimed by Houthis

  • The insurgents have carried out dozens of missile and drone attacks on Israel since the Gaza war began with Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack
  • The Houthis have also repeatedly targeted merchant ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said Friday it shot down a missile launched from Yemen, an attack claimed by the Arabian Peninsula country’s Iran-backed Houthi militantss.
“Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted” before entering Israeli territory, the military said.
The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, said they targeted an air base “east of the occupied area of Haifa” with a “hypersonic ballistic missile.”
The insurgents have carried out dozens of missile and drone attacks on Israel since the Gaza war began with Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack.
They are part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” against Israel and the United States, presenting themselves as defenders of Palestinians in Gaza.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement that the group’s “support operations will continue until the aggression against Gaza ceases and the siege is lifted.”
The Houthis have also repeatedly targeted merchant ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, drawing retaliatory strikes by Israel, the United States and Britain.
Since President Donald Trump took office in January, the United States has intensified its bombing campaign, with almost daily strikes for more than a month.
Houthi media said this week that US strikes on the movement’s stronghold of Saada killed at least 68 people, all Africans being held at a “center for illegal migrants.”
The United States said in April its strikes since March 15 had hit more than 1,000 targets in Yemen and killed “hundreds of Houthi fighters.”
On Friday, the Houthi-run Saba news agency said three people were wounded in a US air strike the previous night in Al Wahda district, citing a preliminary toll.


All aboard Gaza aid flotilla confirmed safe, Malta government says

Updated 4 min 47 sec ago
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All aboard Gaza aid flotilla confirmed safe, Malta government says

  • Maltese government: ‘The vessel had 12 crew members on board and four civilian passengers; no casualties were reported’

VALLETTA: Everyone aboard an aid flotilla for Gaza that was hit by drones in international waters off Malta overnight are “confirmed safe,” the Maltese government said in a statement on Friday.
“The vessel had 12 crew members on board and four civilian passengers; no casualties were reported,” the statement said, adding that a nearby tug had been directed to aid the vessel.
“The tug arrived on scene and began firefighting operations. By 1:28 a.m. (2328 GMT Thursday), the fire was reported under control. An Armed Forces of Malta patrol vessel was also dispatched to provide further assistance,” the government said.
“By 2:13 a.m., all crew were confirmed safe but refused to board the tug ... The ship remains outside territorial waters and is being monitored by the competent authorities,” the statement concluded.

Drones attacked a vessel carrying aid to Gaza while it was off the coast of Malta on Friday, the humanitarian group organizing the shipment said. A fire broke out but was brought under control, authorities said.
A nearby tugboat responded to a distress call from the ship, which was carrying 12 crew members and four civilians, Malta’s government said. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said in an email there were no injuries among those on board its vessel.
Charlie Andreasson, who has been involved with the Freedom Flotilla for more than a decade, told The Associated Press that he had spoken to people on board who said there were two explosions and a fire broke out.
The group did not provide evidence that the fire was caused by drones, but in a video it shared an explosion can be heard. Another video showed a fire blazing. People on board the ship were not immediately reachable for comment.
Cypriot authorities shared photos showing the Conscience with damage to its hull.
Earlier the group said the strike appeared to have targeted the ship’s generator, causing a “substantial breach in the hull” and leaving it without power. It said that put the vessel at risk of sinking.
Israel has cut off Gaza from all imports, including food and medicine, since the beginning of March in what is believed to be the worst humanitarian crisis in nearly 19 months of war. Israel says it is an attempt to pressure Hamas to release hostages it took during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the conflict.
When an aid flotilla attempted to break a blockade of Gaza in 2010, Israeli forces stormed a Turkish ship, Mavi Marmara, killing nine people on board. That led to a breakdown in Turkish-Israeli relations.
Israel’s army didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The Freedom Flotilla said the vessel, called the Conscience, was attacked about 16 miles (26 kilometers) from Malta. It flies the flag of Palau, a tiny island nation in Micronesia, Andreasson said.