Middle East

The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a ballistic missile fired toward Riyadh and two more toward Khamis Mushait late on Monday, as the Houthis claimed hits on the capital's airport and King Khalid Air Base. The Houthis also reported overnight airstrikes on Kamaran Island, the Hodeida coast and al-Jawf, and warned the United States of a painful response if it joins the Saudi campaign.

The Saudi-led coalition on Tuesday urged civilians to evacuate the Yemen Oil Company's al-Sabahah central station in Sanaa ahead of a planned military operation, hours after it said three drones had been destroyed north of Riyadh. The Houthis answered that any strike on Sanaa would bring a harsh response in Riyadh and warned workers and civilians to stay away from Saudi Aramco oil facilities, which they called legitimate targets.

The Saudi-led coalition said on Tuesday evening that it had attacked the al-Sabahah fuel station in Sanaa and other sites in Sanaa, Hodeidah and Dhamar, hours after ordering civilians to evacuate the station. Al Jazeera's team in Sanaa reported explosions at the station and strikes on oil storage at Ras Isa port. Yemen's oil company said the Sanaa facility held no fuel stocks. No casualty figures were reported, and the Houthis renewed warnings against Saudi Aramco facilities.

The skies over Riyadh were largely empty on Monday after the weekend Houthi attacks on King Khalid International Airport, Reuters reported, with about 78% of the airport's flights estimated cancelled for the day, 99.7% cancelled on Sunday, and Lufthansa and Air France-KLM extending suspensions. More than a third of flights across Saudi Arabia were not expected to operate.

Saudi state media said Saudi forces responded on Monday to a drone and cruise missile attack from Yemen, while Houthi-run authorities said airstrikes on Sanaa and the northern province of al-Jawf killed 10 people and wounded 19 — figures and blame that rest on Houthi sources, with no Saudi comment on the Yemen strikes in the reporting. Reuters separately reported a new barrage of incoming fire on Saudi Arabia and intensified Saudi airstrikes.

India's foreign ministry said two Indian seafarers were missing after a drone struck the tanker MT Petro Dolphin in the Strait of Hormuz area on Sunday, while a second tanker, MT Valthera, was hit by an unknown projectile and caught fire with all 11 Indian crew reported safe. India condemned the attacks; no attacker has been identified, and one maritime-safety account differed on whether the Petro Dolphin's crew were all safe.

Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport will stay closed until 2100 GMT on October 17 under a Notice to Air Missions issued Monday, Reuters reported, as Delta Air Lines pushed its planned Atlanta–Riyadh launch to March 2027 and the FAA advised US carriers to exercise caution over Saudi Arabia after the weekend Houthi attacks.

Saudi Arabia's public early-warning system issued no alerts before the four Riyadh attacks of the past week, which Reuters put at at least 18 killed and more than 300 wounded, and the government has not explained the silence. Civil defence issued its first threat alerts since September 29 on Monday, as the coalition reported destroying another ballistic missile fired toward the capital.

An Israeli strike killed at least two Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday and a strike on a tent in the Mawasi area killed three people late on Sunday, medics told Reuters, as Israel said it was targeting militants and Hamas denied rearming under the year-old US-brokered ceasefire.

Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia — the R4 group — condemned the Houthi attacks on Riyadh's airport as a dangerous escalation and backed Saudi countermeasures, while the Saudi-led coalition said on Monday it had intercepted a drone in the Eastern Province and a ballistic missile fired toward Khamis Mushait.

At least 627 flights were cancelled on Sunday and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh is expected to stay closed until 9 p.m. local time after Saturday's deadly attack, while the UN envoy for Yemen called it 'a grave escalation' and President Trump said he will speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as Washington weighs joining strikes on the Houthis.

Yemen's Houthis on Sunday renewed their warning to airlines, airport workers and travellers against using Saudi airports — and Saudi airspace — a day after a missile strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport killed 12 people and wounded 309. The kingdom's civil aviation body extended the airport's closure as condemnations poured in and Trump weighed US strikes.

A projectile hit Terminal 4 at Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on Sunday, starting a fire and injuring an unspecified number of people, a day after a strike there killed 13 — and Saudi authorities later confirmed Dammam's King Fahd International Airport had also been struck. The Houthis claimed responsibility for both days' attacks, including strikes on two Saudi Aramco facilities.

Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said in an early-Monday update that Sunday's strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport killed a Pakistani resident and injured 11 people — and the Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers spoke for the first time since the Houthi attacks intensified, with Tehran offering to help facilitate dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Twelve months after the October 10, 2025 ceasefire, more than 100 humanitarian organizations say the truce exists 'in name only': Israeli strikes have continued, Israeli control has expanded to around two-thirds of Gaza, and the disarmament and reconstruction phases of Trump's 20-point plan have stalled.

Saudi Arabia has ruled out any ceasefire with the Houthis until the Yemeni government retakes territory lost in recent weeks, AFP reports. Riyadh's return to full-scale war follows a chain of miscalculations — a shattered alliance with the UAE, a Houthi offensive nobody was ready for, and an American ally that declined to intervene.

A missile struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday, hitting Terminals 3 and 4 and wounding dozens of people, Saudi officials said. President Donald Trump said the United States 'may' join Saudi strikes on Yemen's Houthis — the most direct US signal of potential intervention since the airport attacks began this week.

Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority says at least 12 people were killed and 309 wounded in Saturday's attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh — including one American citizen, confirmed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. A Saudi-led coalition vowed to respond, and President Donald Trump said Washington 'may' join strikes on the Houthis.

Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said on Friday that three Saudi nationals were killed and several people were injured in two attacks on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on Thursday. The national carrier Saudia identified one of the dead as its pilot, Captain Hamoud Ali Al-Kalthami, as Lufthansa and Indian airlines suspended Riyadh services and the Houthi leader warned of a long conflict.

Hezbollah has received $200 million from Iran to help Lebanese displaced by this year's war with Israel, two people with direct knowledge of the transfer told Reuters — the first significant aid from the group to supporters who bore the brunt of the conflict. The United States disputes the claim, saying the money 'is not there.'

The UN Security Council met on Friday amid a warning that Yemen has fallen back into full-scale war, with more than 200,000 people displaced and fighting intensifying around Taiz. On the same day, Europe's aviation regulator widened its Saudi airspace alert and a major flight-safety group told airlines to avoid Saudi Arabia entirely after Houthi missile strikes on Riyadh's airport killed three people.

A fully laden crude supertanker was struck by an unknown projectile off the UAE coast on Friday, UKMTO said, as Iran claimed it hit a gas carrier in the Strait of Hormuz and warned it would punish vessels using routes it has not authorized anywhere in the region.

The war impact on markets this week ran through crude oil: Brent surged about 5% Thursday after a tanker was struck deep inside the Persian Gulf, then eased Friday as President Trump ruled out an Iran strike before the US midterms. Brent closed the week near $102.90, up roughly 3.5% on the week. Figures checked Friday, October 9, 2026, 4:30 PM Central Time.

Yemen's Houthi movement said on Thursday it had attacked King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with a ballistic missile, Reuters reported — a fresh claim hours after Saudi Arabia said a midweek strike on the same airport killed one person. Separately, Pakistan's military confirmed on Wednesday that Pakistani forces are stationed in Saudi Arabia under the new Saudi-Turkish-Pakistani mutual defense pact.

Gulf stock markets fell in early trade on Thursday, October 8, 2026, as attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz reached their highest levels of the war, Reuters reported. The latest strike came Wednesday, when a tanker was hit by multiple projectiles 51 nautical miles north of Qatar, causing casualties, the UK Maritime Trade Operations said.

Pakistan's military has confirmed its forces are stationed in Saudi Arabia, days after the two countries and Turkey activated the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement — as Houthi missile attacks on Saudi airports killed three people this week.

The Bab al-Mandeb — the narrow 'Gate of Tears' between Yemen and the Horn of Africa — links the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal. With Houthi forces seizing control of its shores and Gulf states counterattacking, here is why this strait matters to the world economy.

Yemen's Houthis said Thursday they had attacked two Saudi airports and an air base for a third straight day, while their leader warned Riyadh to prepare for a lengthy conflict. Lufthansa and Air India suspended Riyadh flights, Saudi Arabia said debris from intercepted missiles damaged a kindergarten and a clinic, and the coalition said it hit 82 Houthi targets.

President Trump said Thursday the U.S. will not attack Iran before the November 3 midterms, after Axios reported the Pentagon ordered CENTCOM to finish preparations for a possible resumption of major combat operations. Separately, Reuters reported Iran warned regional states it would treat any new unauthorized oil-export routes as hostile — and a chemical tanker was hit by projectiles off Qatar.

Two missiles targeted Aden's international airport early Wednesday, officials said, as fighting intensifies between the Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces along the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. The strikes follow Houthi attacks on two Saudi airports and a government counteroffensive to retake the Red Sea coast.

The UN migration agency says more than 200,000 people have fled their homes since fighting in Yemen reignited in early September, while the World Food Programme warns food insecurity is steeply increasing — with wheat flour prices up 10% in two weeks in parts of Ta'iz.

Syria is considering providing military assistance to Saudi Arabia — from defensive aid to a possible troop deployment against the Houthis in Yemen — Reuters reported on October 7, 2026, citing a US official and a Syrian military official, after President al-Sharaa's visit to Riyadh.

Houthi missile strikes on Saudi Arabia's King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport killed three people and wounded 36 on October 6–7, 2026, Saudi aviation authorities said — the first reported Houthi attack on Riyadh's main airport in this phase of the Yemen war.

The Strait of Hormuz is the world's most important energy chokepoint — roughly a fifth of global petroleum liquids moved through it before the 2026 conflict, per EIA data. This explainer covers where it is, why it matters, what happens when it is disrupted, and how the current Iran conflict has reshaped flows.

Yemen's government announced Operation 'Dawn of Yemen' on October 5, 2026, and claimed on Monday to have retaken key positions around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, backed by 100 Saudi coalition fighter jets. The Houthis deny the advances; neither claim has been independently verified.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan agreed on October 5, 2026 to activate their Mecca Joint Defence Agreement for the first time, beginning rapid deployment of military forces to the kingdom after an emergency Riyadh meeting on escalating Houthi attacks.

A year after the October 2025 Gaza ceasefire, Israel occupies around two-thirds of the enclave, Hamas has not disarmed, the international stabilization force has yet to deploy, and reconstruction has not begun — a Reuters one-year assessment of where the 20-point plan stands.

Saudi Arabia's aviation authority said airports in Jazan and Najran were hit on Monday evening, injuring three people, as Saudi-backed Yemeni forces press a major offensive against the Houthis near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Two Houthi missiles targeted Aden's international airport early Wednesday, Reuters reported — the first strike on the Yemeni government's seat of power in the current escalation, hours after Saudi Arabia's coalition said it intercepted a Houthi missile heading for Khamis Mushait.

Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait triggered a UN-authorized coalition and a lightning campaign that ended in decisive victory — and left Saddam Hussein in power. The Gulf War was the first major crisis of the post-Cold War era, and its unfinished business led straight to 2003.

Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces claimed on Monday, October 5, 2026, to have seized large parts of the Dhubab district overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb strait in the 'Dawn of Yemen' offensive, with a Saudi-led air campaign flying 100 jets. Houthi-aligned media denied any advances; neither claim has been independently verified.

Israel struck Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday, October 4, 2026, after saying it intercepted two projectiles launched by Hezbollah, and ordered most of the southern city of Tyre to evacuate. Strikes continued across south Lebanon into Monday, further straining a ceasefire AFP says was never fully respected.

Yemeni government forces backed by heavy Saudi air power reached the outskirts of the Red Sea port city of Mokha late on Monday, October 5, 2026, four government sources told Reuters — the second day of 'Operation Dawn of Yemen.' The Defense Ministry said the city had fallen; Reuters could not independently verify the extent of the gains, and the Houthis called the claims baseless.

Saudi Arabia is preparing a military offensive against the Houthis in Yemen — led by Yemeni ground forces with Saudi air support and expected in the coming weeks — aimed at reversing Houthi gains and retaking the Bab el-Mandeb strait, six people with knowledge of the preparations told Reuters on October 2.

A year after the Gaza ceasefire took effect in October 2025, the agreement holds in name but not in substance: more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since it began, per Gaza health officials cited by Reuters, and the core issues it deferred — Hamas's disarmament and a full Israeli withdrawal — remain unresolved.

Yemen's Houthis said Saturday they hit an Aramco oil facility near the Saudi capital with ballistic missiles and drones; an AFP journalist saw flames, smoke and firefighters at the refinery, while the Saudi-led coalition called the claim 'misleading' and Saudi authorities did not confirm the cause of the fire.

Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council head Rashad al-Alimi announced Sunday the start of a major military campaign to recapture all territory held by the Houthis, with the Saudi-led coalition pledging full operational support — escalating the Yemen conflict to its most intense phase since the 2022 truce.

An Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in Gaza City's Remal neighborhood early Saturday killed at least five Palestinians and seriously injured at least six others, according to Gaza health officials and medical staff at al-Shifa Hospital. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Saudi authorities said falling debris from an intercepted Houthi ballistic missile injured a resident in the Asir region, while a separate projectile struck a school in Najran, as the Saudi-led coalition reported intercepting three ballistic missiles and four drones over Khamis Mushayt on Friday.

Two members of Iran's UN General Assembly delegation were expelled from the United States after ignoring a State Department order to leave, as President Donald Trump said Saturday he will soon make a decision on Iran — 'either the easy way or the hard way' — and his defense secretary called the Strait of Hormuz blockade 'ironclad.'

Yemen's internationally recognized government's armed forces said they are striking 'vital targets' of the Houthi movement in the capital Sanaa and the Saada stronghold, after the Houthis claimed a missile-and-drone attack on Aramco facilities in Riyadh — a day that also saw at least 13 airstrikes on Sanaa City, per CTP-ISW.

The Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988) was the longest conventional war of the 20th century: Iraq's invasion of post-revolutionary Iran became a trench-warfare stalemate with chemical weapons, the Tanker War, and total casualties estimated at one to two million. It ended with the borders unchanged.

Warplanes carried out 20 strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen's Taiz province on Friday, the Yemeni government's military said, in what Reuters described as the most serious escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis since the 2022 truce. The escalation follows the Saudi-led coalition's accusation that the Houthis struck a power station in Medina supplying the Prophet's Mosque — a claim the Houthis deny.

The Pentagon is dispatching the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and the Makin Island amphibious group to the Middle East, adding up to 10,000 sailors and Marines to a force already above 50,000, AP and the Wall Street Journal reported. The buildup could bring the region to three carrier strike groups for the first time since April, days after Trump rejected Iran's latest truce proposal.

A Kuwaiti supertanker was struck by an unidentified projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday — the fifth UKMTO-reported tanker strike since September 28 — while a separate projectile hit Saudi Arabia's Yanbu oil export terminal on the Red Sea, briefly suspending loading at the kingdom's key Hormuz-bypass outlet.

Six officials told Reuters that Riyadh is preparing an offensive against the Iran-backed Houthis — a coastal push toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait or a multi-front campaign mobilizing over 100,000 Yemeni troops — while the U.S. has declined a Saudi request for direct airstrikes, according to Axios.

The first War & Markets weekly briefing: Brent crude swung around $100 a barrel as G7 stockpile releases collided with US carrier deployments, gold held above $4,180 an ounce, and US defense stocks slipped even as escalation headlines multiplied. Figures checked October 2, 2026, 7:00 PM CT.

The US military announced on September 30 that all American troops had left Iraq, completing an orderly departure from Erbil Air Base and formally ending Operation Inherent Resolve's mission in the country. The move closes a 23-year chapter of American military presence that began with the 2003 invasion — but leaves Kurdish allies anxious and Iran-backed militias celebrating.

Israeli strikes hit a passenger van in Gaza City's Tel al-Hawa neighborhood and a residential apartment on September 30, killing at least five people. Gaza's health officials say more than 1,400 Palestinians have now been killed since the October 2025 ceasefire — a ceasefire that survives in name only.

Hans Grundberg met the Houthis' chief negotiator in Muscat to explore halting an escalation that has killed at least 838 people and displaced 145,000. The offensive, aided by Iranian experts per AP, captured Mokha and Red Sea islands — ending the 2022 ceasefire.

Britain's maritime security agency issued three delayed warnings on Wednesday covering tanker strikes from the day before — with one crude-oil tanker hit on its port side — adding to a growing backlog of late-reported attacks in the strait.

The Treasury and State departments announced designations against 13 individuals and entities in Russia, China, Hong Kong, and Pakistan accused of feeding Iran's defense ministry — including a Russian aircraft maker and a Russian shipping firm.

An Israeli airstrike in Gaza City's Nasr neighbourhood killed Izz al-Din Al-Beik, head of Hamas' armed wing in the northern Gaza Strip — confirmed by Israeli officials, medics, and Hamas sources, according to Reuters.

President Trump says he offered Iran 'nothing' to end the seven-month war, rejecting reports of a sanctions-relief deal — even as US and Iranian officials held separate talks with mediators on Monday, Reuters reports.

More than 100 Israeli settlers set two homes ablaze in the West Bank village of Jalud, blocking a Palestinian family's military-escorted return and injuring three Israeli officers in clashes, Reuters reported.

The last U.S. troops are scheduled to leave their remaining bases in Iraq by September 30, ending a 23-year military presence agreed off in 2024 — carried out by the Trump administration even as the U.S.-Iran war rages. Iraq, Iran's allies, and a nervous Kurdistan are watching what comes next.

Gaza reconstruction will need $71.5 billion, the UN says — but almost a year after the ceasefire, Israel occupies 60% of the strip, Hamas has not disarmed, and not a single reconstruction project has begun. Here is what the plans say, and what is blocking them.

Iran's nuclear program is now the world's most closely watched blind spot: the IAEA says it has been 'completely blind' for over a year, 440 kg of 60%-enriched uranium is unaccounted for, and the Security Council has the file for the first time in 20 years.

Eight U.S. Marines — seven enlisted troops and one officer — were injured when an Iranian anti-ship cruise missile struck the vessel they were aboard in the Strait of Hormuz on September 14. NBC News, citing three U.S. officials, reported the incident on September 28 — the first public disclosure, two weeks after the attack.

The Lebanon ceasefire has collapsed and been renegotiated twice: a 2024 truce that never held, and a June 2026 framework tying Israeli withdrawal to Hezbollah's disarmament. With UN peacekeepers leaving by year's end, here is what holds the border together.

A new Saudi-led Red Sea naval coalition joined the fight in 2026 after Houthi attacks on oil tankers — the third multinational force trying to secure the Bab el-Mandeb strait. Here is how the Red Sea naval coalition works, and why warships alone have not reopened the waterway.

The Soviet-Afghan War (1979–1989) trapped a superpower in a grinding counterinsurgency, killed around 15,000 Soviet troops, displaced a third of Afghanistan's people, and ended with the withdrawal completed on February 15, 1989.

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt left San Diego on September 27 bound for the Middle East, replacing the Japan-based USS George Washington. The deployment sustains the Navy's continuous carrier presence into the seventh month of the U.S.-Iran war — and may run longer than normal.

Ceasefires are only words on paper until someone watches them hold. From UN peacekeepers to the OSCE's unarmed observers in Ukraine, this is how ceasefire monitoring actually works — and why it so often fails.

Nearly two years after Bashar al-Assad's fall, Syria's interim government controls most of the country — including Damascus and Aleppo — after a January 2026 deal integrated Kurdish forces. But the transition is disputed, violence continues, and the Islamic State remains active. Here is who holds what, and why it matters.

Yemen's war has killed an estimated 377,000 people, left 19.5 million needing aid — and in September 2026 it exploded back onto the world stage as the Houthis seized the Red Sea coast and threatened the Bab el-Mandeb strait. Here is how the forgotten front works.

Gaza's Health Ministry says 74,016 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire holds in name, but its next steps — disarmament, a new government, reconstruction — have barely begun.

Since November 2023, Houthi attacks on commercial shipping have turned the Bab el-Mandeb strait — a chokepoint carrying a tenth of seaborne oil — into one of the world's most dangerous waterways.