Yemen rebels sentence 17 to death over spying for Israel, US, Saudi

Sanaa: A court operating under Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Saturday sentenced 17 people to death for spying on behalf of Israel, the United States and Saudi Arabia, rebel media said.

The Houthis’ Saba news agency said the court in the capital Sanaa had sentenced the 17 individuals in cases relating to “espionage cells within a spy network affiliated with the American, Israeli and Saudi intelligence”.

It said they were sentenced to be executed by firing squad.

Lawyer Abdulbasit Ghazi, representing some of the defendants, said on Facebook that they can appeal the sentence.

The charges included “colluding with foreign nations in a state of enmity with Yemen during the 2024-2025 period, namely Saudi Arabia, Britain and America and spying for their interests through officers from those countries and from the Israeli Mossad” intelligence service.

The defendants were also accused of “incitement and aiding with the recruitment of a number of citizens… which led to the targeting of several military, security and civilian sites resulting in the death of dozens and widespread destruction of infrastructure”.

A man and a woman were sentenced to 10 years in prison each, and another person was acquitted in the same case.

Israel has hit targets in Yemen repeatedly over the past two years in response to attacks by the Houthis on Israel, which the rebels said were in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

In the wake of the Israeli attacks, the Houthis have launched a widespread campaign of arrests targeting those it accuses of spying for Israel or the United States.

The crackdown intensified following an August strike that killed rebel prime minister Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi.