We denounce all forms of normalization, relations with Israel: Yemen’s Houthi leader

The leader of Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement has condemned in the strongest terms any attempt to normalize relations with Israel after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Tel Aviv regime reached an agreement to establish diplomatic ties.

“We denounce all forms of normalization and relations with Israel as it is religiously forbidden. Our positions towards the issues of the Muslim world, particularly the Palestinian issue, and solidarity with the peoples of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Bahrain, the Islamic Republic of Iran besides oppressed Muslims in Myanmar, India and Kashmir will remain unchanged,” Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech broadcast live from Yemeni capital Sana’a on Sunday afternoon.

The speech marked the occasion of Ashura, which falls on the 10th day of the lunar calendar month of Muharram and commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (PBUH) – Prophet Muhammad’s grandson and the third Shia Muslim Imam – in the battle of Karbala in AD 680.

The UAE and Israel announced the US-brokered agreement on August 13, sparking anger among the Palestinians, who rejected the peace treaty as a stab in the back of Palestine.

Emirati officials have described the normalization deal with the Tel Aviv regime as a successful means to stave off annexation and save the so-called two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but Israeli leaders have lined up to reject the bluff and emphasized that the regime’s annexation plans were not off the table.

Days after the deal was announced, US Secretary of State toured a number of Arab countries, which have long had unofficial ties with Israel, to push for more normalization agreements with the occupying regime.

No normalization with Israel until Palestine establishes viable state: OIC

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation says there will be no normalization of ties with Israel until Tel Aviv ends its occupation of Palestinian lands, including East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Houthi highlighted that the ongoing battle nowadays is between genuine Islam and the camp of hypocrisy and falsehood, between truth and falsehood, and between vice and virtue.

“It is a battle that does not accept neutrality. Our dear Yemeni Muslim nation has made this choice and decided to adhere to Islam in its originality. The path ensures freedom, independence and dignity, and rejects surrender to the brutal tyranny of the United States and Israel in addition to compromise with the camp of hypocrisy in the Muslim world spearhead by the Saudi and Emirati regimes,” the Ansarullah chief pointed out.

Countdown begins for most decisive battle of Yemen war

The Yemeni army and Ansarullah popular forces are gearing up for the most decisive phase of their war on Saudi Arabia, military sources say.

He added, “Confronting the brutal US, Saudi, Emirati and Zionist aggression against our country is a principled position based on our faith and religious obligations. It is a religious, humanitarian and patriotic duty, and whoever neglects this obligation is indeed betraying his faith and identity.”

“Therefore, we trust in God Almighty and will spare no effort to stand against such aggression, whatever the scale of challenges might be and whatever the size of the sacrifices required would be,” Houthi highlighted.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than 100,000 lives for more than the past five years.

The Houthi movement, backed by the armed forces, has been defending Yemen against the Saudi-led alliance, preventing the aggressors from fulfilling the objective of their deadly campaign.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk