Latest news with #Sanaa
The Independent
8 hours ago
- Health
- The Independent
Mother of jailed British activist at risk of ‘sudden death' from hunger strike, doctors warn
The mother of jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah is at risk of "sudden death" due to her ongoing hunger strike, doctors have warned, as her blood sugar levels dropped so low they can no longer be detected. Laila Soueif, 69, was hospitalised on Friday after resuming a full hunger strike, which she first started in September last year. Ms Soueif has been on hunger strike for 244 days and has lost 36kg – over 40 per cent of her bodyweight – to campaign for Alaa's release from prison in Egypt, where the writer and human rights defender has been held for over a decade in total. He was most recently detained for sharing a Facebook post about torture in Egypt. On Friday, doctors at St Thomas' Hospital in London said her blood sugar level had fallen to such a dangerously low level that it is undetectable by standard medical tests. They also reported her ketone levels, which indicate blood acidity, had risen so high they too could not be measured by hospital equipment. They warned she is now at risk of "sudden death" and irreversible damage to critical organs, including the heart, brain and kidneys. 'Your low blood sugar remains an unaddressed medical emergency and I am anxious that just a slight further reduction could result in rapid loss of consciousness, and even death,' one of the attending doctors wrote. Outside St Thomas' Hospital, Laila's daughter Sanaa said it was a 'miracle' her mother survived the night. 'Bottom line is we're losing her… there is no time. Keir Starmer needs to act now. Not tomorrow, not Monday. Now. Right now.' A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: 'We are concerned to hear of Laila's hospitalisation. We remain in regular contact with Laila and her family and have checked on her welfare. We are committed to securing Alaa Abd El-Fattah's release and continue to press this at the highest levels of the Egyptian government.' Last Thursday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer once again spoke to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and 'pressed for the urgent release of British national Alaa Abd El-Fattah so that he can be reunited with his family.' The family says Alaa Abd El-Fattah is also on his 92nd day of hunger strike, consuming only herbal tea, black coffee, and rehydration salts while imprisoned in Wadi El-Natrun in Egypt. He began the hunger strike after his mother's last hospitalisation in February. Alaa is a prominent British-Egyptian human rights defender and one of the most recognized faces of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising. He has spent in total over a decade in prison amid a growing crackdown on civil liberties and freedom of expression in Egypt. He is among thousands of individuals who remain arbitrarily detained without legal basis in Egypt, according to Amnesty International.
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
Video: Israeli attack in Yemen destroys airline's ‘last plane'
NewsFeed Video: Israeli attack in Yemen destroys airline's 'last plane' Officials in Yemen say an Israeli attack on Sanaa airport has destroyed the last passenger plane operated by the country's main airline, Yemenia Airways.
Asharq Al-Awsat
3 days ago
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Yemeni Minister: Houthis to Blame for Repeated Chaos Impeding Hajj Pilgrims' Travel to Saudi Arabia
Yemen's Minister of Awqaf and Guidance Dr. Mohammed Shabeeb held the Iran-backed Houthi militias fully responsible for the repeated chaos in organizing the travel of Yemeni Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. He made his remarks in wake of Israel destroying the last remaining plane at Yemen's Houthi-held Sanaa International Airport on Wednesday. An air raid involving multiple strikes hit the Yemenia Airways plane and the runway at the airport. According to a statement from Yemenia, the plane was about to be boarded by Muslim pilgrims bound for the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Makkah. Dozens of travelers were forced to return home. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Shabeeb said that last year, the Houthis hijacked four Yemenia planes, leaving 1,300 Hajj travelers stranded in Saudi Arabia. 'Only lawless gangs commit such crimes,' he charged, noting how the Houthis defied all legitimate government and regional calls to cease such actions. He recalled how the Houthis turned down all regional mediations that suggested that the planes be transported to another secure airport in Yemen or outside the country, slamming their 'intransigence and clear undermining of the lives of civilians and Hajj pilgrims.' 'What made matters worse was that they later left the planes in unsafe areas, leaving them exposed to the Israeli attacks in Sanaa,' added the minister. The planes were ultimately attacked and destroyed because the militias refused to set the planes aside in their conflict with Israel despite the danger, Shabeeb lamented. 'What happened today is a direct result of this recklessness. The last Yemenia jet at Sanaa airport has been destroyed, forcing dozens of Hajj pilgrims to return home,' he remarked. 'The Ministry of Awqaf and Guidance is addressing the fallout from the terrorist Zionist attack that was sparked by the Iran-backed terrorist Houthi militias,' he confirmed Seventy-eight pilgrims were left stranded and efforts are underway to transport them to Saudi Arabia through the Wadia land crossing. Shabeeb vowed that his ministry will carry out all possible efforts to ensure that they secure the pilgrims' right to perform the Hajj despite the 'deliberate obstacles and dangers' caused by the Houthis.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Politics
- Forbes
Israel Going It Alone Against Houthis In Yemen With Long-Range Strikes
Israel carried out its latest airstrikes against Sanaa International Airport in Yemen on Wednesday, its second long-range attack targeting infrastructure controlled by the Houthis since the U.S. ended its two-month air campaign against the group in early May. The strikes are another reminder that Israel again faces the Houthis alone and seemingly has no other way of retaliating against the group for its missile and drone attacks than bombing fixed targets that are part of Houthi-controlled Yemeni infrastructure. As Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip continues, so do near-daily Houthi ballistic missile and drone attacks targeting Israeli cities from over a thousand miles away. Israel's sophisticated air defenses intercept these incoming munitions most of the time. Still, Houthi munitions occasionally slip through—most recently, a ballistic missile impacted outside Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport on May 4. These attacks often result in hundreds of thousands of Israelis scrambling into shelters. Before Israel's strike on Sanaa on Wednesday, the Houthis launched three attacks in four days and a total of seven missiles and several drones in the 12 days since Israel's last long-range airstrikes against Yemen on May 16. Wednesday's attack saw Israeli fighters, supported by tankers due to the long distance to their target, bomb and destroy the last commercial plane in Sanaa airport used by the Houthis. Israel last bombed the airport on May 6 in retaliation to the above-mentioned attack on Ben Gurion, destroying its terminal and six planes. The Sanaa strikes followed Israel's May 16 strikes. On that occasion, it retaliated for a similar series of Houthi attacks targeting Israel by sending 15 fighter-bombers that dropped 35 bombs on Yemen's Houthi-controlled Hodeidah and Salif ports. The Israeli military said it targeted the ports to harm the Houthis economically and undermine any effort to import additional Iranian armaments or parts. All of these developments occurred within a month and serve as a stark reminder of how much can change in the region within a matter of weeks. For example, the U.S. launched Operation Rough Rider in mid-March after surging air and naval assets in the Red Sea and deploying strategic B-2 Spirit bombers on the Indian Ocean's Diego Garcia within striking distance. It discouraged Israel from launching any additional attacks against the Houthis, urging it, 'Leave it to us.' Despite weeks of strikes and vows to target the Houthi leadership, a Houthi ballistic missile still hit Ben Gurion on May 4. Mere hours after Israel responded with ferocious strikes against Sanaa airport and Hodeidah port, President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire with the Houthis after they agreed to stop targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The truce did not condition the group to cease attacking Israel and 'leave it to us' essentially became 'you're on your own' overnight. While U.S. air defense assets in the region, including THAAD missile batteries deployed to Israel, will help intercept attacks where they can, Israel cannot expect the U.S. to launch airstrikes against the Houthis on its behalf anytime soon. Incidentally, the THAAD batteries deployed to Israel failed to intercept Houthi ballistic missiles on at least two confirmed occasions, including the May 4 incident, when a comparable Israeli Arrow system also malfunctioned. Like the U.S., Israel operates the fifth-generation F-35 Lighting II stealth jet but lacks any aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, or regional bases to strike Yemen. Consequently, each time it retaliates against the Houthis, its fighters must fly over a thousand miles with support from tankers to hit their targets, which, as mentioned above, are invariably fixed. Furthermore, as the early weeks of Rough Rider demonstrated, Israel cannot afford to underestimate Houthi air defenses, which at one stage threatened a U.S. F-35. Israel may find it extremely difficult to rescue any pilot shot down over Yemen given the distance involved. Rough Rider struck over 800 suspected Houth-related targets in its first month. Upon its conclusion, U.S. officials said the operation killed several 'mid-tier' Houthi fighters and destroyed substantial quantities of weaponry and munitions. However, it failed to eliminate the leadership nor undermine the group's continued capability to target Israel repeatedly. Following the May 16 Israeli airstrikes on Hodeidah and Salif, Israeli Defense Minister Katz threatened to kill Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi if his group continued targeting Israel. Experts believe he is sequestered in the Houthi's Saada stronghold in Yemen's mountainous far north, where only trusted locals have access to him. Katz specifically mentioned the late leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah when threatening the Houthi leader. Israel assassinated the long-time Hezbollah leader in his Beirut bunker in September 2024 following its detonation of thousands of booby-trapped Hezbollah pager devices that injured and killed several of the group's members and crippled its command and control. Before that covert operation and a devastating accompanying Israeli air campaign, Hezbollah was the primary strategic threat to Israel given its enormous arsenal of surface-to-surface missiles and rockets right on its doorstep aimed at its major cities and infrastructure. While Katz invoked Hezbollah's string of strategic defeats, it's unclear if Israel can replicate them against the Houthis. For example, unlike Hezbollah, Israel has significantly less intelligence on the Houthis and has to fight them much further away and over different terrain than Hezbollah in Israel's near north. Given the greater distances and different terrain, Israel cannot feasibly deploy armor and troops as it can in Lebanon or Gaza. It isn't known to have mounted any commando raids in Yemen. And it's unknown whether or not it has conducted any significant covert operations. Israel probably doesn't have any ace up its sleeve against the Houthis as game-changing as the paper operation against Hezbollah. Nevertheless, one cannot readily dismiss such a scenario–after all, nobody predicted the pager operation in the first place. It's likely for now that Israel will have to settle for sending its fighter jets hundreds of miles every few weeks to hit what little is left of the economic infrastructure in the beggared Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen. 'We operate according to a simple principle: Whoever harms us – we will harm him,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared after Wednesday's strike. 'Whoever does not understand this with force – will understand this with more force.' It's conceivable that if Israel's repeated retaliatory strikes on Yemen fail to deter the Houthis, which seems likely, it could become more tempted to order its air force to fly a similar distance to attack the group's primary backer, Iran.
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
Israel hits Houthi targets including last plane at Yemen's Sanaa airport
Israel said it had struck Houthi targets including the last remaining plane used by the group at Sanaa international airport, after the Yemeni militants launched missiles towards Israel a day earlier. The general director of Sanaa International Airport, Khaled al-Shaief, said in a post on his X account that the strike had completely destroyed the last of the civilian planes that Yemenia Airways was operating from the airport. The airport is the largest in Yemen and came back into service last week after temporary repairs and runway restoration following previous Israeli strikes. It was mainly being used by UN aircraft and the plane destroyed in the latest Israeli strikes. Three other Yemenia Airways planes were destroyed in an attack earlier this month. 'This is a clear message and a direct continuation of the policy we have established: whoever fires at the State of Israel will pay a heavy price,' Israel's defence ministry said in a statement. 02:46 US launches air strikes in Yemen amid escalating tensions with Houthi rebels US launches air strikes in Yemen amid escalating tensions with Houthi rebels The Houthis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
