After the Houthi Ultimatum, Saleh Criticizes the Militia’s “Exploitation” of the Gaza Issue
The Vice President of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, Tareq Saleh, accused the Houthi militia of reducing the Gaza cause to mere slogans and using it as a pretext to suppress Yemenis.
Saleh’s statements came just hours after the Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, announced in a pre-recorded speech on Friday a four-day ultimatum to allow aid into Gaza, threatening to resume attacks on ships if the demand was not met.
Speaking at a gathering organized by Yemen’s Ministry of Religious Affairs for preachers and scholars of the country’s western coast, Saleh stated that “the Houthis’ claims of supporting Gaza are nothing but slogans meant to escape public pressure and deceive people into enlisting in their ranks.”
He pointed out that the Palestinian cause had become a cover for the Houthis to repress civilians in areas under their control, including those demanding their long-overdue salaries.
Saleh mocked the impact of the hundreds of missiles and drones launched by the Houthis toward Israel, noting that despite their large number, “not a single one has hit its target.”
Furthermore, Saleh warned Yemenis against “the Houthis’ political grandstanding” regarding the recent sanctions imposed on them, stating that “these sanctions were not imposed due to their alleged support for Gaza, as they claim, but rather as a result of shifts in the international stance.”
He accused the Houthi militia of “consistently falsifying and distorting facts to fit their false narratives,” adding, “We do not rely on sanctions.”
Emphasizing that Yemen’s western coast would be a “pillar of support for all the Republic’s battlefronts” in a united fight against the Houthis, Saleh ruled out any peace with the militia, which he accused of violating all agreements over the past two decades.
The Vice President also revealed that the Houthis had organized approximately 200,000 ideological training sessions within the Ministry of Interior to indoctrinate their members and turn them into “ticking time bombs.”
Finally, he urged preachers, scholars, and religious guides to safeguard fighters and society by promoting a sound doctrine and enlightened thought, describing them as the “first line of defense” against the “deviant” Houthi ideology.
