Three people were killed in attacks on two Saudi airports claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, deepening the kingdom’s entanglement in the latest front of the Iran war, as Israeli settlers opened fire on Palestinian olive harvesters in the occupied West Bank, the Associated Press reported.
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Civil Aviation said the attack on Abha airport killed two residents, a Moroccan and an Algerian, and wounded 28 other people, while the strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed a Sudanese national and wounded eight. The Saudi statement did not name who was responsible, but the Houthis took credit for both strikes earlier.
Yemen’s War Spills Further Into Saudi Arabia
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group targeted the Riyadh airport with several drones. The Saudi-led coalition’s spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, said forces intercepted a ballistic missile north of the capital and destroyed a platform in Sanaa used to launch attacks on Riyadh. The AP said it could not independently verify those claims.
The Houthis also said they fired a missile at the port city of Aden, seat of Yemen’s internationally recognized government. Reuters, citing Yemen’s Transport Ministry, said the group hit Aden’s international airport with ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones, with one missile landing near the runway minutes before a flight from Cairo was due to land.
Yemeni government forces, backed by Saudi-led coalition air support, launched a counteroffensive this week to retake strategic ground near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and around Mocha, which the Houthis seized in September, Reuters said. It remains unclear whether the advance will hold. The government said Monday that it had reached Mocha, but Yemeni military officials and analysts said the claim was premature. Fighting on the western front is concentrated in the Dhubab district overlooking the strait, where pro-government forces are trying to advance in the hills to the east, according to Yemeni military and government sources.
The International Organization for Migration said more than 200,000 people have been displaced since the latest fighting began. “People are running for their lives and finding nowhere safe to go,” said the agency’s director general, Amy Pope, who called for more funding for food and shelter. Both sides claim hundreds have been killed without giving details, and the U.N. says three in four families are going hungry in parts of Yemen.
Saudi Arabia has been seeking outside help. Two officials told Reuters that Turkey is sending mainly defensive and technical support, after Turkey and Pakistan pledged to carry out a collective defense commitment under a newly formed alliance. A U.S. official and a Syrian military official said Syria is weighing military assistance, from defensive aid to deploying forces to help Saudi-backed Yemeni troops, and the U.S. official said Riyadh asked Damascus to send forces. A Syrian diplomat said Syria stands firmly with Saudi Arabia but is focused on recovery from its own civil war.
Settlers Fire on Olive Harvesters
Israeli settlers opened fire on olive harvesters in the village of Burqa in the West Bank on Wednesday, killing a Palestinian security officer who responded and wounding 16 people, Palestinian officials said. The officer, Ali Hassan Yasser al-Bazzari, 44, was a member of the Palestinian National Security Forces who went to the village when news of the attack spread, according to his cousin Abdul Latif al-Bazzari, who was also hurt.
Sami Daghlas, a Burqa village council member, said the Israeli military kept emergency medical teams from reaching the wounded for more than an hour. The military said it went to the area after reports that an Israeli civilian had been injured by a rock, and that several Palestinians suspected of throwing rocks were detained for questioning. The military and police did not say whether the person who shot al-Bazzari had been arrested. Arrests after settler violence in the West Bank are rare, and convictions rarer still, the AP noted.
In a second attack Wednesday, dozens of settlers chased harvesters from groves near the village of Marda, forcing them to shelter in a house, said Bassam Abdah, a former village council head. He said soldiers fired tear gas at residents and detained three people. Palestinian officials say five Palestinians have been killed and more than 100 injured this week in such attacks, which they say have also damaged thousands of olive trees and cost farmers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Rubio Restates Iran Goal
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday there should be no confusion about the administration’s aim in the Iran war, which is to keep Iran from ever developing a nuclear weapon. His comments followed Vice President JD Vance telling Reuters that the administration might accept a deal that sharply cuts Iran’s capacity for nuclear enrichment. “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Simple, period, end of story,” Rubio said.
Gaza Strikes
Israeli strikes in northern and southern Gaza killed three Palestinians and wounded at least a dozen, according to health officials. One strike near Kamal Adwan hospital killed a civil defense worker, officials said, while the Israeli military said the man was a Hamas militant it called a “terrorist” presented to the world as a civil defense worker. Two other strikes in southern Gaza each killed one person, according to Nasser hospital officials. The Israeli military said one targeted a military operative and that it was not aware of the other. Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 1,467 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire nearly a year ago.
Differing Accounts
Several points remain unsettled. The coalition’s description of the Sanaa launch platform differed by outlet, with the AP reporting it was destroyed and Reuters reporting the coalition said it was tracking the platform and would destroy it. Saudi aviation authorities said one airport attack happened Tuesday and the other Wednesday without saying which, according to Reuters. The Houthis and the Yemeni government each claim battlefield gains that independent sources have not confirmed.
Why This Matters
Strikes on the international airports in Abha and Riyadh show the Houthis reaching deeper into Saudi territory, and the fight over Bab el-Mandeb matters more now that the U.S.-Iran conflict has restricted trade through the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters said. In the West Bank, the harvest season has brought a string of violent attacks, and Palestinian officials say the toll is rising. Rubio’s remarks, set beside Vance’s, show the administration’s public line on what a nuclear deal would require is being sharply debated.
What Happens Next
The coalition and the Houthis are expected to keep trading strikes while the Yemeni government presses its counteroffensive near the strait. Aid agencies are asking for more funding as displacement grows, and Saudi Arabia is weighing offers of military help from Turkey and possibly Syria. Palestinian officials say harvest-season attacks continue, and Gaza’s Health Ministry says strikes there are ongoing despite the ceasefire.
Reporting drawn from the Associated Press and Reuters
