Houthis strike Saudi targets, Israel marks Oct. 7 anniversary and other Mideast developments

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed that they attacked military facilities and airports in Saudi Arabia as the war between the kingdom and the Iran-backed rebels escalated.

Israelis are marking the third anniversary of Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which sparked a devastating war in Gaza, while for Palestinians the anniversary ushers in yet another day of misery.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Wednesday. Full coverage is available here.

The Houthis used ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones, to attack military facilities and airports in Saudi Arabia, the rebels’ military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said Wednesday on social media. He didn’t provide evidence for the claim.

The attacks targeted King Khalid International Airport in the capital, Riyadh, with missiles, he said.

Flights to and from the airport were disrupted, with planes holding away from the airfield, according to Flightradar24, a tracking platform.

Also attacked were Abha airport, military facilities in Khamis Mushait and other “critical sites” in the cities of Najran and Asir, Saree said.

Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, said they intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired by the rebels north of Riyadh.

The attacks came as Saudi Arabia and its allied Yemeni forces launched a major ground and air offensive on the Houthis on Yemen’s western coast and elsewhere in the country.

The Houthis also said they launched a missile strike early Wednesday against Yemen’s port city of Aden, the seat of the internationally recognized government.

An Associated Press journalist heard explosions that rocked the city around 2 a.m. local time.

Israelis gathered at intersections, bomb shelters and the site of a music festival that Hamas-led fighters overran on Oct. 7, 2023, to mark the anniversary of the attack that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. The attack also sparked the war in Gaza and led to a series of conflicts across the Middle East.

“Every morning, you wake up and there is just endless missing,” said Anya Davitashili, who lost her 25-year-old son, Sean, in the attack.

For Palestinians, the anniversary brings another day of misery and difficulties after an Israeli retaliatory campaign in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people.

Most of the population, about 2 million people, lives in vast, squalid tent camps, with large parts of the strip’s cities reduced to rubble. More than half the territory remains in the hands of the Israeli military, and despite a ceasefire deal reached nearly a year ago, Israeli strikes continue almost daily.

“Since October 7th, we have lived a life we never imagined,” said Gaza City resident Walid Akram. “We witnessed death, destruction, and bombardment that we had never known before.”

Hamas has portrayed the Oct. 7 attack as a response to decades of Israeli military occupation, land seizures and settlement construction. No events were expected Wednesday in Gaza.

Three years after Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the city of Rafah, which used to be home to a quarter million people, lies in ruins.

The Israeli military has razed the southern city and other towns and districts to the ground, satellite imagery shows.

Demolition, using bulldozers and explosives, has continued since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal was reached a year ago.

Gaza’s devastated landscape is just one of many wounds that the enclave’s 2 million Palestinians have endured since the Israeli campaign that has killed over 74,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. More than one out of every 10 people from Gaza’s prewar population has been killed or wounded by Israeli fire.

With almost the entire population homeless, the coastal territory is now effectively one of the world’s most populated tent cities.

An Israeli drone strike killed one older man and wounded seven other people in southern Gaza on Wednesday, according to health officials.

Dr. Mohamed Saqr, a manager at Nasser Hospital, told The Associated Press that one of the injured was in critical condition.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.