Who is Levi Salem Musa Marhabi, the Yemeni Jew held hostage by the Houthis?

Levi Salem Musa Marhabi, a Yemeni Jew, has been held hostage by the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen since his arrest in March 2016. He was detained for helping a Jewish family and an 800-year-old Torah leave the country. Despite a Houthi appeals court ordering his release in 2019, he remains captive in Sanaa, where he has been tortured, leading to severe health issues including partial paralysis. The Houthis have beaten, electrocuted, and starved him, and blocked contact with his family. Following Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, he was moved to a ward with extremists before being placed in solitary confinement. A 2021 deal reportedly exchanged his release for exiling the last three Jewish families in Yemen.

Levi Salem Musa Marhabi, a Yemeni Jew, remains a hostage of the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen, despite a Houthi appeals court ordering his release in 2019. 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, but he continues to be held in Sanaa, where the Houthis have tortured and mistreated him. According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, the Houthis have beaten and electrocuted Marhabi, deprived him of food, and blocked communication with his family. The torture has caused his teeth to fall out, worsened his kidney and lung conditions, and left him partially paralyzed, according to the American Sephardi Federation. Following Hamas's October 7, 2023 invasion, the Houthis transferred him to a prison ward with extremists who threatened him, before moving him to solitary confinement. Asharq Al-Awsat reported in 2021 that the Houthis reached a deal to release Marhabi in exchange for exiling the last three Jewish families in Yemen.