Houthis claim missile hit Riyadh airport; UN warns of vacuum in Lebanon
Yemeni rebels say they struck a Saudi capital airport, while the UN peacekeeping chief urges a Security Council decision before a mission ends December 31.
By Ana Castro ·
Saudi residents in the capital received civil defense alerts overnight warning of potential danger, following claims that Yemeni Houthi rebels targeted King Khalid International Airport. The strikes mark a direct escalation in the conflict between the Iran-backed group and Saudi Arabia, with authorities in Jazan and Najran also issuing warnings early Wednesday.
The regional tension has intensified over the past few months as the civil war in Yemen was revived more than three months ago. The conflict pits the Houthis against Saudi Arabia and the internationally recognized Yemeni government. Simultaneously, the broader Middle East has remained on edge regarding whether the United States will resume full-scale military operations against Iran.
Following a U.S. election where voters gave Democrats control of Congress, Iranian officials interpreted the result as a rejection of the war. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker, wrote on X on Wednesday that Americans said “NO TO WAR,” and he endorsed that message. He warned that if the U.S. government ignored the vote for change, it would learn that Iran’s “NO comes with a Nightmare.”
Despite Qalibaf’s comments, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, dismissed the idea that Washington would change its approach to the Islamic Republic. Thousands of pro-government demonstrators marched through Tehran on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy. Participants burned American and Israeli flags and chanted slogans demanding death to both nations.
In Lebanon, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN peacekeeping chief, warned that officials fear a security vacuum when the UNIFIL mission ends on December 31. Lacroix recently returned from the region and expressed concern about leaving the Israeli and Lebanese armies “sort of face-to-face” without a third-party presence. He questioned who would monitor the Blue Line, prevent unintended clashes, and support communities in the south.
The UN Security Council, pushed by the United States, decided to end the mission after nearly five decades. UN Secretary-General António Guterres proposed three options in June to maintain monitoring along the border. Lacroix noted that while unarmed UN military observers remain authorized, it is unclear how they would operate without protection. The council is scheduled to discuss the 2000 resolution on November 19.
In Yemen’s Taiz province, Houthi health authorities reported that an airstrike on a house in the Maqbanah district killed at least seven people, including two children. The ministry stated that six other children were wounded. Footage aired by Houthi media showed a heavily damaged concrete building with collapsed roof sections. The ministry blamed Saudi Arabia, which has not yet commented.
In southern Lebanon, the Israeli military announced it struck two suspects in the village of Qabrikha who were observing IDF soldiers. The Health Ministry said the drone strike on a motorcycle killed one person and wounded another. This was the first such attack in nearly a month, as drone strikes have been rare since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in late June ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.
