Yemen

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on Yemen’s leaders to return to the path of peace and release all UN personnel detained there, following a briefing to the Security Council on Wednesday.

The Southern Transitional Council has seized control of more territory, reinforcing calls for a split of war-torn Yemen. However, global recognition for two independent states is unlikely due to foreign interests.

A separatist group has seized key oil-rich provinces in southern Yemen, shattering a fragile lull in the civil war and deepening rifts within the anti-Houthi camp.

Members of the Security Council traded barbs today over the origin of restricted items flowing into Yemen, as they were briefed by the chair of the committee tasked with implementing an arms embargo, economic sanctions and other measures aimed at tackling the country’s bloody — and increasingly regional — civil conflict.

A United Nations staff member who was recently detained by Yemen's Houthi authorities has been released, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday. … He did not provide information about the timing or circumstances of the detention, which comes after nine other UN personnel were detained by Houthis.

Israeli strikes on Sanaa killed at least nine people and wounded more than 170 on Thursday, Yemen’s Houthis said, a day after the rebels launched a drone attack on southern Israel.

Yemen needs its own two-state solution, the president of its Southern Transitional Council (STC) has said, warning that there is currently no prospect of dislodging the Iran-backed Houthis from power in the north. 

Israel’s army said it had intercepted a missile on Thursday fired from Yemen, a day after Israeli forces carried out air strikes there that killed 35 people and wounded more than 130. 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned the arbitrary detention of at least 11 staff members in Yemen on Sunday by the de facto Houthi authorities in areas under their control. He said the Houthis entered the premises of the World Food Programme (WFP) in the capital, Sana’a, and seized UN property, in addition to attempting to enter other UN premises in the city.

Yemen's Houthi rebel movement has confirmed that its self-proclaimed Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi was killed in an Israeli air strike earlier this week.