Yemen's Houthi militia will place 43 UN staff, most of them Yemenis, on trial over the Israeli air strikes in August that killed some of the group's top political leaders, a member of the rebel government has said.
In an interview with Reuters, the Houthis' Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Abdulwahid Abu Ras, said the group's judiciary and security agencies co-ordinated on the steps being taken.
“Therefore, as long as the prosecution is informed, it is certain that this process is moving towards its conclusion, leading to trials and the issuance of judicial rulings,” he said.
Mr Abu Ras accused the World Food Programme of involvement in Israel's attack on members of the Houthi government, which is made up of ministers and shadow ministers directly linked to the group.
The United Nations has repeatedly rejected accusations that its staff were involved in spying and espionage. If found guilty, they could be executed.
The United Nations renewed its call for the release of staff members detained by Yemen’s Houthi militia, urging the group to free all UN and aid workers being held.
“We call for the immediate release of all of our UN colleagues who have been detained arbitrarily, as well as those from NGOs and international diplomatic missions,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.
“We will continue engaging with the Houthis, with the de facto authorities in Sana’a, as well as Member States and partners, to continue to push for the release of our colleagues,” he added.
Israeli strikes on Sanaa, the rebel-held capital, on August 28 killed Houthi prime minister Ahmed Ghaleb Al Rahwi, nine ministers and two cabinet officials as they attended a government meeting.
The Houthis this month announced that their military chief of staff, Muhammad Abdel Kareem Al Ghamari, had been killed, without saying when or how. Israel claimed it was a result of the August air strikes.
Aid distribution
The Houthis detained the UN staff members earlier this month and raided the homes, putting pressure on the global body's agencies as they seek to continue operations in Yemen, where 70 per cent of people are reliant on aid after more than 12 years of war between the rebels and the internationally recognised government.
“These actions are forcing us to reassess the way in which we work in areas controlled by the Houthis,” UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haqq said after the arrests.
There are at least 55 staffers in the Houthi custody, most of them Yemeni nationals after a dozen international staff members were released last week.
Houthi security forces also raided several UN offices in Sanaa on Sunday but the Houthi official said the group will “support and assist” humanitarian organisations.
The Houthis have controlled large swathes of Yemen since they seized the capital in September 2014.
The Iran-backed rebels began a campaign of attacks on ships in the Red Sea a month after the start of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023, in what they called a show of solidarity with the Palestinian enclave. The war was triggered by an attack on southern Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
The Houthis have faced attacks by the US and western allies, as well as by Israel, in response to the attacks on shipping. They have also launched drones and missiles at Israel, most of which were intercepted.
