Houthis detain more UN employees in Yemen

The United Nations said on Sunday that ten of its local employees had been arrested in Yemen by the Houthi movement, marking the latest in a series of detentions targeting UN personnel in the war-torn country.

In recent years, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have arrested dozens of UN staff and humanitarian workers, accusing them of spying for the United States and Israel. The United Nations has strongly rejected these allegations, which carry the death penalty under Yemeni law.

The arrests have intensified since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023, triggered by the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli soil. Detentions have also increased following Israeli strikes in Yemen that, according to reports, killed nearly half of the rebel administration in August.

The latest incident comes days after UN Secretary-General António Guterres raised the issue of detained UN staff, diplomats and humanitarian workers during talks with Haitham bin Tariq, whose country plays a key mediating role in the Yemeni conflict.

Last month, a Houthi court sentenced 17 people to death on charges of spying for Israel, the United States and Saudi Arabia, according to Houthi-affiliated media.

The United Nations has repeatedly called for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained staff, warning that such arrests undermine humanitarian operations and further worsen an already dire situation for civilians in Yemen.