Dubai: Yemen’s Houthi rebels unilaterally freed 153 war detainees Saturday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said, one of several overtures in recent days to ease tensions after the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Previous prisoner releases have been viewed as a means to jumpstart talks over permanently ending Yemen’s decade-long war, which began when the Houthis seized the country’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014.
However, the Houthis’ release comes just after they detained another seven Yemeni workers from the United Nations, sparking anger from the world body.
Those released previously had been visited by Red Cross staff in Sanaa and received medical checks and other assistance, the organization said while announcing the release. The Houthis had signalled on Friday night they planned a release of prisoners.
The Red Cross said it “welcomes this unilateral release as another positive step towards reviving negotiations”.
“This operation has brought much-needed relief and joy to families who have been anxiously waiting for the return of their loved ones,” said Christine Cipolla, the ICRC’s head of delegation in Yemen.
“We know that many other families are also waiting for their chance to be reunited. We hope that today’s release will lead to many more moments like this.”
Abdul Qader al-Murtada, the head of the Houthis’ Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs, said in a statement carried by Houthi media that those released were “humanitarian cases” that included the sick, wounded and the elderly.
“The goal of the initiative is to build trust and establish a new phase of serious and honest dealing,” al-Murtada reportedly said.
The Red Cross has helped oversee other prisoner releases, including one that saw some 1,000 prisoners swapped in 2020, over 800 detainees exchanged in 2023 and another release in 2024.
The rebels said earlier this week they would limit their attacks on ships in the Red Sea corridor and released the 25-member crew of the Galaxy Leader, a ship they seized back in November 2023, as the Gaza ceasefire took hold.
The war in Yemen has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more.
The Houthis’ attacks on shipping during the Israel-Hamas war have helped deflect attention from their problems at home. But they have faced casualties and damage from US-led airstrikes targeting the group for months now, as well as other strikes by Israel.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s economy is in tatters, something that’s put increasing pressure on the Houthis and others in the conflict to potentially negotiate an end to the war. A de facto ceasefire in the conflict, which drew in a Saudi-led coalition in 2015, has largely held for several years now even during the Houthis attacks over the Israel-Hamas war.
Yet the Houthis still conducted the raids that saw seven UN workers detained, likely alongside others. The rebels previously detained UN staffers, as well as individuals associated with the once-open US Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, aid groups and civil society.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres late Friday demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the seven, as well as all other UN workers held by the Houthis, some since 2021.
“The continued targeting of UN personnel and its partners negatively impacts our ability to assist millions of people in need in Yemen,” he warned in a statement.
“The Houthis must deliver on their previous commitments and act in the best interests of the Yemeni people and the overall efforts to achieve peace in Yemen.”
The UN has halted work in Yemen, which provides food, medicine and other aid to the impoverished nation.
US President Donald Trump separately has moved to reinstate a terrorism designation he made on the group late in his first term that had been revoked by President Joe Biden, potentially setting the stage for new tensions with the rebels.
Analysts have linked the newest UN detentions as being connected to the decision, though the Houthis themselves have yet to comment on them. The rebels have been airing repeated programs on television channels they control parading people they describe as working with Western intelligence agencies or the Israelis.
