Houthis release five detained Yemeni UN workers but 15 foreign staff remain confined to compound

Houthi rebels have released five Yemeni United Nations staff members detained over the weekend, but 15 international employees remain confined to a UN compound, according to a spokesperson for the organisation.

The 20 UN staff were detained in the compound in Houthi-held Yemen's capital of Sanaa followed an incursion by the militant group on Saturday, said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

The rebels have left the compound and the international UN employees are now free to move around the facility, according to Dujarric.

"We hope that they will be free to leave the compound as soon as possible," he said late on Monday.

The Iran-backed Houthis have a long-running crackdown against the UN and other international organisations working in Yemen's rebel-held areas, including Sanaa, the coastal city of Hodeida and the group's stronghold in the northern province of Sadaa.

The Houthis have repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that the detained UN staff and employees of other organisations and embassies were spies. The UN has denied this.

At least 53 UN staff have been arbitrarily detained by the Houthis since 2021 — a tally which does not take into account this latest incident — according to Dujarric.

The UN spokesperson also said that Secretary-General António Guterres spoke with the foreign ministers and leaders of Iran, Yemen and Saudi Arabia on Monday regarding the detainment of the organisation's staff.

As the UN engages in the sensitive negotiations with the Houthis, it is essential for member states that have influence in the region — like those three countries — to use their leverage to assist in the release of international and national staff, Dujarric said.

Funeral for military chief

Earlier on Monday, the Houthis held a funeral for their military chief of staff who was killed in a recent Israeli strike, with more than 1,000 people gathered in Sanaa.

The rebels acknowledged last week that Muhammad Abdul Karim al-Ghamari was killed in an Israeli airstrike along with other Houthi leaders. The Houthis did not say when the strike took place.

Nearly two months ago, Israeli airstrikes killed senior Houthi government officials in Sanaa, including their prime minister, Ahmed al-Rahawi.

The US and Israel had launched an air and naval campaign against the Houthis in response to the rebels’ missile and drone attacks on Israel and on ships in the Red Sea.

The Houthis have said they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians over the war in Gaza.

Their attacks over the past two years have upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which at least €850 billion worth of goods pass each year.

Yemen plunged into civil war in 2014 when the Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, forcing the internationally recognised government into exile.

The war has reached a stalemate in recent years, and the group, designated as a terrorist organisation by some countries, reached a deal with Saudi Arabia that stopped their attacks on the kingdom in return for ceasing the Saudi-led strikes on their territories.