Fighters loyal to the Houthis take part in a rally aimed at recruiting more fighters, in Sanaa, on Oct. 7, 2026. (Credit: Mohammed Huwais/AFP)
Today's top story
The Houthis reiterated their threats Sunday to strike Saudi airports and airspace, one day after an attack on Riyadh airport killed at least 12 people, the deadliest such incident in a decade in the kingdom.
The Yemeni rebels did not claim responsibility for Saturday's strike but renewed their warning to travelers, airport employees and airlines to avoid Saudi airspace and airports, except those in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. "They are exposed to strikes and constitute a theater of operations for our forces," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia's Civil Aviation Authority reported that 12 people were killed and 309 wounded at King Khalid International Airport on Saturday. However, the death toll could rise, with more people potentially among the wounded, a Western diplomat based in Riyadh told AFP.
The authority said the dead included "four Saudi nationals, two Bangladeshis, an American, an Egyptian, an Argentinian, a Syrian, a Palestinian and a Sudanese." It added that the airport would remain closed Sunday.
The Iran-backed rebels had already claimed responsibility for strikes on the airport in the Saudi capital on Wednesday and Thursday, which killed a total of six people.
Why this matters
The scale and frequency of recent Houthi attacks targeting Riyadh are unprecedented since the outbreak of Yemen's war in 2014. The war pits the rebels against government forces, which received military support from a Saudi-led coalition beginning the following year.
The latest deadly attack on Riyadh airport has prompted a new wave of condemnations across the region and in Europe, with numerous capitals denouncing a "dangerous escalation." From Beirut to Baghdad and London to Islamabad, officials have called for a "complete cessation" of hostilities, warning that the attacks threaten "regional security and stability."
U.S. President Donald Trump said a resumption of U.S. strikes on the Houthis in Yemen was possible when journalists asked him about the attack at the White House on Saturday.
"We may. We're going to look at it. We just found out about the recent attack, so we'll make a decision. We move very quickly," he said.
The attack also comes days after the activation on Oct. 5 of the "Mecca Pact," a mutual defense agreement that Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan concluded in August. Turkey and Pakistan have announced plans to deploy forces and military assets rapidly in support of Riyadh.
What to watch
In southern Lebanon, one person was killed Sunday morning when an Israeli munition exploded in an olive field in Froun (Bint Jbeil district). The incident highlights the dangers facing olive harvesters in south Lebanon, where unexploded ordnance from the last war has hampered harvesting.
Farmers cannot work in areas that remain under Israeli occupation, which covers more than 600 square kilometers. Lebanese Army personnel and civil defense rescuers from al-Rissala Scouts, affiliated with the Amal Movement, recovered the victim's body.
Froun lies on the edge of the "buffer zone" and is one of the first three "pilot zones" Washington announced at the end of July as part of a project intended to disarm Hezbollah while securing an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. The project has since stalled.
The incident comes amid intensified Israeli airstrikes on south Lebanon. Israeli airstrikes hit four villages Sunday morning: Mansouri (Sour district) twice, Tallousa (Marjayoun district), Kfar Tibnit (Nabatieh district) and Wadi Hujeir.
Israeli forces also shelled about a dozen villages and demolished several houses with explosives overnight in the villages it occupies.
Elsewhere in the news
- The seizure Saturday of several hundred kilograms of explosives from a vehicle at a checkpoint in Dahr al-Baidar, in the Bekaa, and the subsequent implication of two Hezbollah members continue to draw reactions from Lebanon's political circles. The incident has renewed debate over its arsenal, which Lebanon has pledged to dismantle.
- At least 109 migrants, including 15 children, died and more than 116 remain missing after a boat bound for Yemen capsized off Djibouti overnight to Friday, the U.N. said Sunday.
