The UN Secretary-General¡¯s deputy spokesman, Mr. Hack, said on October 24 that two UN officials were detained by the Houthi armed forces in Yemen on 23 October, and that 55 UN personnel are currently detained.

Haq said at a press conference on the 24th that since 2021, a series of actions by the Houthi armed forces have made it increasingly difficult for the United Nations to provide assistance to the Yemeni people, including forcibly entering and occupying the premises of United Nations personnel, seizing United Nations assets and staff, etc.

Hack said these moves of the Houthi armed forces forced the UN to reconsider how it worked in the Houthi armed control zone. The UN has appointed an official responsible for fighting for the release of UN staff and preventing similar incidents from happening again.

Houthi armed leader Abdul Malik Houthi said in a televised speech on the 16th that there are "dangerous spy teams" within humanitarian organizations operating in Yemen. They assisted Israel in air striking Sana'a in late August, resulting in the death of many important Houthi armed forces. The United Nations denied that United Nations staff were involved in espionage activities.