Yemen's southern secessionists face backlash over talk of ties with Israel

For two years, Amer Ali, a resident of the southern Yemeni city of Aden, joined rallies opposing Israel’s devastating war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 68,000 people.

Ali viewed these demonstrations, held regularly across Yemen, as a moral duty to stand against what the United Nations and leading genocide scholars have condemned as genocide in Gaza.

To his dismay, however, the leadership of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) - the main separatist movement in southern Yemen - has recently signalled a willingness to normalise relations with Israel.

Ali has supported southern secession for a decade. He long regarded the STC as the movement most capable of restoring South Yemen’s independence from the north, which has been under Houthi control since the civil war erupted in 2014.

However, remarks made last month by STC leader Aidarus al-Zoubaidi have sparked outrage among Yemenis across the political spectrum, both in the north and the south.

Zoubaidi said the creation of an independent southern state could pave the way for normalisation with Israel.

"The STC was heading towards signing an alliance agreement with Israel before 7 October 2023," he added.

Read more: Yemen's southern secessionists face backlash over talk of ties with Israel