Middle East Experience

The Iran-backed Houthis doubled the number of attacks on civilian targets in Saudi Arabia during the first nine months of this year compared to the same period in 2020, according to a report published by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).And it has been Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force and Lebanon’s Hezbollah that have played a “critical role in providing weapons, technology, training, and other assistance to the Yemen-based Houthis,” the report said.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Recommending that the US increase its aid to Saudi Arabia to defend itself, the report looked at over 4,000 Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, inside Yemen and other maritime attacks in the Gulf from January 2016 until October 21, 2021.From January to September last year, the Houthis carried out an average of 38 attacks per month. In contrast, attacks have increased to an average of 78 per month. That is a total of 702 this year alone, the report said.The uptick was a direct result of the continued Houthi offensive on Marib, one of the Yemeni government’s last strongholds in the north.According to CSIS, August of this year saw 133 total attacks, the highest number of Houthi attacks in one month since 2016.“In fact, the total number of attacks in the first nine months of 2021 were higher than the entire year of 2020,” the CSIS report said.Data also showed that there had been a decline in the number of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia in 2019 and 2020 before increasing this year.This shows that the Houthis continue to have the ability and desire to conduct stand-off attacks, the report said.“Second, the Houthis are utilizing more advanced weapons, such as cruise and ballistic missiles, which suggests that their capabilities are improving. Third, the Houthis continue to complement their actions in Saudi Arabia with military offensives in some areas of Yemen, including in Marib Province,” CSIS said.Upon analyzing this data, CSIS found that the Houthis were increasing their “irregular warfare campaign” against Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries in a sign of escalating violence in Yemen.“Despite Saudi successes in shooting down Houthi missiles and drones, Iran and the Houthis have demonstrated a persistent ability to threaten Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Gulf,” the report said, citing Saudi ground and air forces shooting down around 90 percent of drones and missiles launched from Yemen.The report recommended that the US and its allies conduct a “more aggressive campaign to publicly highlight” Iranian and Houthi activities.“Not only has there been a rise in the number of attacks against Saudi Arabia over the past year, but Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah continue to provide the Houthis with increasingly sophisticated weapons systems.”Short-term goals of the Houthis include maintaining influence and power inside Yemen and on the international stage, CSIS said.“In the long term, the Houthis seek the establishment of a theocratic Yemen under Houthi leadership,” the report said.Read more: Iran-backed Houthis continue to detain US, UN employees: State Department
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Houthi attacks on civilian targets in Saudi Arabia doubled this year: Report

The death toll from a crackdown on Sudanese protesters Sunday rose to two, medics said Tuesday, while a government ministry said two women were raped in the chaos.On Monday medics had reported a first shooting death in the previous day's street violence, while the health ministry reported 125 protesters injured, many by tear gas inhalation.On Tuesday, the independent Sudan Doctors' Committee reported the additional death. It said Abdelmoneim Mohamed Ali, 28, was killed with “a bullet in the head” in Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city.Security forces cracked down Sunday as hundreds of thousands marched, marking three years since the start of mass demonstrations that led to the ouster of veteran strongman Omar al-Bashir.The protesters rallied against the northeast African country's military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who led a coup on October 25.Nationwide, at least 47 people have been killed in street clashes in the past two months, according to the Committee.Two women demonstrators were raped in Sunday's protest, said Suleima Ishaq, head of the Combating Violence Against Women unit at the Ministry of Social Development, without saying who were the suspected perpetrators.“One woman filed a report with the authorities while the other woman refused taking legal steps,” Ishaq told AFP.The army on Monday insisted in a statement it supports “free and fair elections” in 2023.However, the Forces for Freedom and Change, the umbrella group which spearheaded the protests against Bashir, has called for more demonstrations on December 25 and 30.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Read more:Protester shot dead in Khartoum: MedicsHundreds of thousands march to Sudan presidential palace in protest against coupSudan security forces fire tear gas at protesters in Khartoum: Witnesses
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Second death, two women raped at Sudan’s mass protest on Sunday

Research by Tel Aviv University scholars analyzed data and remains from dozens of sites in southern Levant.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Humans, not climate, caused mega-herbivores extinction – Israeli study

Museum director Zaid Ghazi Saadallah said he hopes the restoration works will be finished within five years..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: International experts help Mosul museum restore treasures

Hapoel Jerusalem routs Ness Ziona • Hapoel Tel Aviv handles Gilboa • Eilat upsets Holon
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Mac TA overcomes Galil Elyon in OT

Major General Tamir Heyman, the now-retired general who headed military intelligence until October, is the first official to confirm Israel’s involvement..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Former intelligence chief confirms Israel role in Soleimani’s killing

Mixed reactions have been recorded online after authorities confirmed the seizure of rainbow-coloured toys..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Qatar authorities seize toys deemed to 'violate Islamic values'

Qatar investments will be backed by debt, which would be linked to the port assets. Qatar is reportedly in early discussions with banks..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: In new push for influence, Qatar targets billion of investments in US ports

The Tunisian authorities must halt the implementation, pending amendment, of a new Covid-19 decree-law that will deny anyone aged 18 or above without a vaccine pass access to many public and private spaces, ban them from working in public-sector or salaried private-sector jobs, and – if they are Tunisian citizens – bar them from traveling ..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Tunisia: Authorities must halt implementation of overly restrictive vaccine pass

Arab Coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Turki al-Maliki has slammed the “defamatory” claims made by Iran’s foreign minister that the coalition delayed air travel for Iran’s ambassador to Yemen’s Houthis when he needed urgent medical treatment after contracting COVID-19.Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told Iranian state television on Tuesday that Iran’s efforts to secure a flight to Tehran for Hassan Irlu, Iran’s ambassador in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa, were delayed by Saudi officials and “decision-makers.”For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Irlu died in Tehran earlier Tuesday morning after being eventually flown out, the semi-official Mehr news reported, adding that his condition became “unfavorable” because of “the late cooperation of some countries.”Brig. Gen. al-Maliki said in a statement published by state press agency SPA that: “The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition has followed the defamatory statements of Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iran’s Foreign Minister, which were circulated by some media outlets on the coalition’s humanitarian stance in regards to evacuating Hassan Irlu, one of the IRGC officers, from Yemen.”“The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition, under the directives of the leadership in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, had commenced the facilitation of evacuating the aforementioned person for humanitarian considerations, and in recognition of the diplomatic mediation by the brotherly Sultanate of Oman and the Republic of Iraq in less than 48 hours of reporting his health condition.”“These defamatory statements against the Kingdom contradict humanitarian values and principles, and do not value the coalition’s noble and humane stance in evacuating the aforementioned person from (Sanaa) to (Basrah).”The spokesman also insisted the statements made by the Iranian officials “are hardly surprising,” adding that they fall in line with the conduct of Iranian diplomacy that smuggled [Irlu] into Yemen, who then began supporting chaos and fighting in Yemen.”Brig. Gen. al-Maliki said the Joint Forces Command of the coalition has facilitated and provided all necessary transit permits, as well as logistical support to the Iraqi Air Force (C-130) medevac aircraft.He pointed out this is the second instance of evacuating an Iranian national who was associated with combat operations, following a similar arrangement for an Iranian military vessel (Saviz) crewmember in the Red Sea by the Royal Saudi Air Force, who was transported to receive medical attention for an extensive period of time at a Saudi hospital due to his deteriorating health condition.He was then medically evacuated to Muscat following mediation by the Sultanate of Oman in order to return him to Iran.“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the coalition will continue on their path of implementing the well-established humanitarian values and principles, despite the uncivilized, inhumane behavior of Iran,” concluded Brig. Gen. al-Maliki.Read more:Iran confirms the death of its envoy to Yemen’s Houthis after COVID-19 infectionHouthi attacks on civilian targets in Saudi Arabia doubled this year: ReportArab Coalition: Houthis use Sana’a airport as workshop for ballistic missiles
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Arab Coalition slams Iran’s ‘defamatory’ claim over Irlu’s evacuation from Yemen