West Asia tensions flare: Houthi airport attacks, Gaza airstrikes
Saudi Arabia said three people were injured in the latest attacks on its airports since fighting with Yemen's Houthi rebels reignited. Meanwhile, Palestinian officials said Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City killed two people and condemned the latest home demolitions in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem.
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday acknowledged that two of its airports were attacked, leaving three lightly injured, hours after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they fired missiles and drones at the kingdom.
The attacks were the latest in the conflict between the two sides. Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said in a statement that airports in the cities of Najran and Jizan were hit on Monday, damaging both facilities. The statement did not say who was responsible but followed a Houthi announcement of attacks on Saudi oil facilities, airports and military bases.
Houthi Brigadier General Yahya Saree said in a statement on Tuesday the rebels had fired toward a third airport on Tuesday as part of their strategy to deter air traffic to Saudi Arabia.
The Associated Press could not confirm whether the Houthis had hit Abha International Airport in the kingdom's southwest. Saudi authorities did not immediately comment on the claimed strike.
Saudi Arabia and its allies in Yemen's internationally recognised government have launched a military campaign to reclaim Houthi-controlled territory near the southern tip of the Red Sea to prevent disruptions to oil being exported out of the region.
2 killed in Israeli strike in Gaza
Two Israeli airstrikes killed two people and severely injured at least one in Gaza City, health officials at the city's Shifa Hospital said.
The Israeli military said it targeted militants in both strikes, including one near the municipal park, a densely populated part of the city.
It was the latest deadly attack since a ceasefire took effect nearly a year ago. More than 1,460 Palestinians have been killed since then, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, whose figures are generally considered reliable by the United Nations and independent experts. Israel was shrouded in mourning this week as the country marks three years since Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack.
During the attack, militants killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostage, sparking a war that later spread across the region.
The attack left lasting trauma in Israel, including in communities near the Gaza border. Israelis there are still grappling with a lost sense of security. Some struggle to see Palestinians as anything other than a threat, even after nearly three years of fighting that has destroyed most of Gaza and killed 74,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the territory.
