Yemeni minister calls for arrest of Houthi officials attending Hezbollah chief Nasrallah's funeral

Soldiers stand guard near a poster of the late leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, during a rally to commemorate him and to show support to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen October 4, 2024. REUTERS

Yemeni Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani called on Wednesday for the arrest of a group of leaders from Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis who he said will attend Lebanese Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah's funeral in Beirut.

Nasrallah, who had served as Hezbollah's secretary general for more than 30 years, was killed on September 27 as Israel ramped up its attacks on southern Lebanon. His funeral is scheduled for February 23.

Eryani demanded that the Lebanese government arrest the Houthi leaders and hand them over to the rival internationally recognized government in a post on X.

He did not name the Houthi officials.

Neither the Lebanese government nor Houthi leaders was immediately available for comment.

The Houthis did not officially announce a delegation was attending the funeral, but the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported a delegation from Yemen would participate.

"We affirm that the movement of these terrorist leaders... in this timing is not a mere participation in the funeral, which is being used as a cover, to gather all the leaders of the Iranian axis and assess the situation after the blows they received," he added.

The Yemeni minister was referring to the recent Israeli attacks against Iran-backed groups in the region including Hezbollah and the Houthis.

Both groups launched parallel attacks against Israel during its war in Gazato show support for Palestinians.

The Houthis, who control northern Yemen, also carried out more than 100 attacks on ships off the shores of Yemen since November 2023, disrupting global shipping and causing route changes and losses.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas's attack on Israel in October 2023 killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's retaliatory offensive on Gaza has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, laid waste to much of the enclave, and displaced hundreds of thousands.