Iran-backed Houthi insurgents in Yemen raided U.N. offices on Sunday, taking at least 11 U.N. employees prisoner, then launched a missile at an Israeli-owned oil tanker in the Red Sea on Monday. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had killed much of the Houthis’ senior leadership, including their “prime minister” Ahmed al-Rahawi, in an airstrike on Thursday.
Spokespersons for the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) and UNICEF, the U.N. children’s fund, said armed Houthi “security agencies” raided their offices in the occupied capital city of Sana’a, which the Houthis captured in 2014, and in the port city of Hodeidah.
Employees of the two agencies were herded into the parking lot to be questioned, and at least 11 staffers were detained. A U.N. official told the Associated Press (AP) on Monday that the Houthis “also seized documents and other materials from the U.N. offices.”
WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain called the Houthi raids “unacceptable” and said the insurgents “confiscated — and destroyed — our property” in addition to arbitrarily detaining nine WFP employees.
The U.N. agencies said they were conducting a “comprehensive head count” of their employees in Houthi territory to determine if any other staffers had been kidnapped.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “strongly condemned” the “arbitrary detentions” of the WFP and UNICEF personnel on Sunday.
“I further condemn the forced entry into WFP and other U.N. premises, and the seizure of U.N. property,” he said.
Guterres demanded “the immediate and unconditional release of all personnel from the United Nations, international and national NGOs [non-governmental organizations], civil society and diplomatic missions who have been arbitrarily detained today and in previous years.”
“The personnel of the U.N. and its partners must never be targeted while carrying out their duties,” he declared.
Sunday’s raids were not the first instance of the Houthis harassing U.N. agencies or detaining their staffers. The U.N. suspended operations in Houthi-controlled territory in northern Yemen after the Houthis detained over 60 employees of the U.N. and its partner organizations in June. The Houthis claimed these U.N. staffers were members of an “American-Israeli spy network.”
U.N. Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg said Sunday’s detentions “come in addition to 23 U.N. personnel currently in detention, some detained since 2021 and 2023, and one colleague who died in detention earlier this year.”
“Despite sustained engagement and assurances sought over the last year, the arbitrary detention of U.N. staff, NGO workers, and civil society has continued. These actions severely hinder broader efforts to deliver assistance and advance peace in Yemen,” Grundberg said.
“The work of U.N. personnel is designed and conducted under the principles of neutrality, impartiality, independence, and humanity. These arrests violate the fundamental obligation to respect and protect their safety, dignity, and ability to carry out their essential work in Yemen,” he said.
The Houthis said on Monday they attacked an Israeli-owned tanker called Scarlet Ray with a missile. The ship is Liberian-flagged and managed by Singapore-based company Eastern Pacific Shipping. Its owner is Idan Ofer, an Israeli billionaire whose father Sami Ofer built much of Israel’s shipping industry.
The attack was unusually close to Saudi Arabia’s coastline, as the Scarlet Ray was only about 40 nautical miles away from the Saudi port city Yanbu. The Houthis have perpetrated many other drone and missile attacks against shipping vessels in the Red Sea, but rarely so close to the Saudi mainland.
“We are aware of security reports alleging that our managed vessel Scarlet Ray was the target of a suspected Houthi attack. We confirm that the vessel has not sustained any damage and continues to operate under the command of its master. All crew members are safe and accounted for,” Eastern Pacific Shipping said in a statement on Monday.
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