Yemen: 18 sentenced to death for collaborating with Israel and other countries

A court in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen and the stronghold of the Houthi rebels, sentenced today (Saturday) 18 local residents to death for collaborating with Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Two additional defendants were sentenced to ten years in prison.

The execution of the residents will be carried out by firing squad in a public place, as a deterrent “so that others may see and fear.” Those sentenced to death were accused of providing information to the mentioned countries and assisting them in locating Houthi targets and positions of senior figures in the organization. According to reports, the trial lasted only two weeks.

It was previously reported that since the Israeli strikes in June and August, confusion has prevailed within the Houthi leadership, along with assessments that the leadership feels exposed to advanced (foreign) intelligence mechanisms. This has led to an “earthquake” within the Houthis’ security, technological, jihad, and communications infrastructure.

It was noted that following Israel’s recent strikes, the Houthis tightened restrictions on the local population and took measures to prevent the leaking of information or images of the attacked sites. They even issued threats against anyone who would dare to do so, calling such acts “a service to the enemy.”

Arrest operations were also carried out in various regions and cities. The restrictions extended even to preventing funerals for those killed and also preventing condolence gatherings, with burials taking place only in villages and remote areas, far from the eyes of the media.

At the beginning of the month, the Houthi Interior Ministry announced that it had captured a spy network belonging to a joint operations room of American intelligence, the Mossad, and Saudi intelligence. According to the announcement, the network’s headquarters was located in Saudi Arabia. It was claimed that this network had worked to create several small espionage cells and had provided them with training and espionage devices. According to the statement, these cells provided information about the locations of sites that Israel and the United States attacked.