Gargash: Arab Coalition Prepared to Liberate Hodeida
- Gargash said that the peaceful and unconditional withdrawal of the Houthi militia from the city and port of Hodeida is the only route to avert worsening the situation.
- Anwar bin Mohammad Gargash is the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
- He reaffirmed that the Arab Coalition is prepared to increase pressure on the Houthis to achieve this goal.
- There is an ‘increased urgency’ to remove the Houthis from the Hodeida city and port, according to Gargesh.
- He added, “With the Hodeida airport now securely in the hands of the Yemeni Government, the Coalition is ready to begin the next phase of its military and humanitarian operations”
- According to the UN, international aid groups, media, and civilian reports from the city, the Houthis are purposefully and deliberately seeking to create a humanitarian crisis and to exacerbate the overall conflict.
- Actions include blocking the unloading of humanitarian aid from ships at Hodeida port; removing surveillance cameras in warehouses that have prevented Houthi theft and diversion of food supplies; etc.
- Few more actions include indiscriminately placing landmines and IEDs along roads and in civilian neighborhoods; pre-positioning sea mines and explosive devices around the port to destroy infrastructure, and placing snipers and heavy weaponry in residential neighbourhoods.
- “We cannot allow the Houthis to divert us from the strategic goals of the operation and our collective efforts to accelerate a peaceful settlement for Yemen and all of the Yemeni people,” Dr. Gargash concluded.
