Who is Levi Salem Musa Marhabi, the Yemeni Jew held hostage by the Houthis?
Marhabi was arrested in March 2016 for helping a Jewish family and an 800-year-old Torah leave Yemen. In March 2018, he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
Levi Salem Musa Marhabi, a Jewish man from Yemen, has been held captive by the Houthi movement since 2016. Despite a Houthi appeals court ordering his release in 2019, he remains in detention in Sanaa, continuing to face torture and mistreatment at the hands of his captors. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has reported that Marhabi has been beaten, electrocuted, deprived of food, and denied communication with his family.
He has suffered severe consequences from the inhumane conditions, including the loss of his teeth, worsening kidney and lung conditions, and partial paralysis. In October 2023, following Hamas's invasion, the Houthis transferred Marhabi to a prison ward with extremists who threatened him. The situation worsened, leading to a 10-day prison strike during which time Marhabi was relocated to solitary confinement.
In 2021, the Houthis reportedly reached a deal to release Marhabi, exiling the remaining Jewish families in Yemen in exchange for his freedom.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
