In a dramatic turn of events this week, Lana Shukri Kataw, the Jordanian deputy director of the UNICEF office in Yemen, was released from detention by Houthi rebels in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a and has safely returned to Jordan, according to statements from the Jordanian Foreign Ministry and multiple international news agencies. Kataw’s release comes at a time of heightened tensions in Yemen and the broader Middle East, with recent Israeli airstrikes causing significant casualties and damage in Sana'a, and ongoing crackdowns on United Nations staff by Houthi forces.
Kataw’s ordeal began on August 31, 2025, when the Iranian-backed Houthi rebel group raided several UN offices in Sana'a, detaining at least 19 staffers, including Kataw herself. As reported by DPA and the Associated Press, the Houthis have not provided a public explanation for the abductions. However, the timing of the raids coincided with a period of escalating violence in the region—specifically, Israel’s killing of Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi and several Cabinet ministers in an airstrike just one week prior. The United Nations has denied Houthi accusations that its staffers were engaged in espionage, but the rebel group has previously detained UN and aid workers, sometimes for years, under similar suspicions.
According to local UN workers cited by DPA, Kataw was specifically targeted after she objected to an attack on the UNICEF office in Sana'a last month and refused to hand over her employees. She was held for several days in Houthi custody before her release. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry confirmed that Kataw arrived at a military airport in Jordan on Thursday, September 11, 2025, following her ordeal. It remains unclear whether any of the other detained UN staffers have also been freed. As of now, at least 20 UN workers are reportedly still in Houthi detention, with some having been imprisoned for more than three years.
The raids and detentions are part of a broader Houthi crackdown on international organizations and diplomats operating in rebel-held areas. In 2024, the Houthis detained at least 11 UN employees, later claiming to have arrested members of an alleged espionage network. The United Nations has consistently rejected these claims, emphasizing the humanitarian role of its staff in Yemen—a country already ravaged by years of war, famine, and political instability.
While Kataw’s release brought a measure of relief to her family and colleagues, the overall situation in Yemen remains dire. On September 10, 2025, Israeli airstrikes in Yemen killed at least 35 people and wounded more than 130 others, according to reports from the Houthi-run health ministry and the Associated Press. The victims of these strikes included two local journalists, Abduallah al-Bahri and Abbas al-Delmi, who worked for the news outlets 26 September and Sabaa news agency. Their families confirmed their deaths to the Associated Press, underscoring the dangers faced by media workers in the region.
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, in his weekly address, condemned the Israeli strikes, accusing Israel of targeting media institutions and civilian infrastructure. "Israel is a criminal enemy that targets media institutions in Sanaa in places crowded with civilians ... because it seeks to target everyone," he declared. Despite the devastation, al-Houthi insisted that such attacks would not deter his group from its activities.
The airstrikes also caused significant damage to Yemen's national museum and other historical sites in Sana'a, the Houthi culture ministry reported. Thousands of precious artifacts are now at risk, with the full extent of the damage still unclear. AP photos and video footage from the site revealed considerable harm to the museum’s facade. In response, the Houthi culture ministry called on UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency, to condemn the attack and intervene to protect the historical building and its contents.
The Israeli military has justified its strikes in Yemen as a response to repeated Houthi missile and drone attacks on Israel. The Houthis, for their part, have openly stated that their actions are in support of Hamas and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Just days before the most recent airstrikes, the Houthis launched a drone that managed to breach Israel’s multilayered air defenses and struck a southern airport, further escalating the cycle of retaliation.
Meanwhile, the conflict’s reverberations are being felt beyond Yemen’s borders. On September 11, 2025, the Israeli military announced strikes in Lebanon targeting what it described as a Hezbollah “site used for the production and storage of strategic weapons” in the Bekaa valley, as well as infrastructure in the Zrariyeh area of southern Lebanon. Lebanese officials reported that one person was killed in an Israeli drone strike near the city of Tyre, and that Israeli forces had entered the border village of Aita al-Shaab to carry out a controlled demolition of a building that had previously served as a school for special needs students.
Since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire halted the last Israel-Hezbollah war in November, Israel has continued to conduct near-daily strikes in Lebanon, arguing that such actions are necessary to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its military capabilities. Lebanese officials, however, contend that these strikes are in violation of the ceasefire agreement and have caused further suffering for civilians caught in the crossfire.
Back in Yemen, the ongoing detentions of UN and aid workers by the Houthis have drawn widespread condemnation from the international community. Humanitarian organizations warn that such actions undermine critical relief efforts in a country where millions rely on international assistance for basic needs. The United Nations, for its part, has repeatedly called for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained staff members, emphasizing that humanitarian workers should never be targeted or used as bargaining chips in broader political or military conflicts.
Kataw’s release, while welcome, is just one small positive note in a landscape marked by violence, uncertainty, and the persistent threat to both local and international actors working in Yemen. As the region grapples with the fallout from ongoing airstrikes, political assassinations, and the targeting of humanitarian operations, the fate of those still in detention—and the future of aid work in Yemen—remains precarious.
For now, as Lana Shukri Kataw returns home, her story serves as a stark reminder of the dangers faced by those who strive to deliver aid in conflict zones, and of the complex web of regional and international forces shaping the everyday realities of Yemen’s long-suffering population.