Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia have ignited fires at several oil facilities and wounded dozens of people, raising the stakes in renewed fighting between a U.S. ally and an Iranian proxy just days after deadly clashes in Iran, Lebanon and Gaza.
Meanwhile, Britain's government said it is banning goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israel responded by saying it will close the British consulate in Jerusalem.
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Here’s a look at the latest news in the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
A wave of Houthi attacks ignited fires at several oil facilities and utilities in Saudi Arabia’s southern region, injuring at least 73 people, officials said.
The attacks early Tuesday marked a major escalation in the renewed conflict between an important U.S. ally and the Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen. They follow weeks of intensifying clashes between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen, which shattered a four-year truce in the country’s civil war.
The flare-up brings further instability to a region scarred by nearly three years of wars, raising fresh concerns for the global economy. It also threatens to squeeze shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a critical route for oil and global trade that has helped cushion the blow as Iran chokes off shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The attacks hit “civilian and economic facilities” in the Saudi cities of Abha, Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait, said Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, a spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen. Al-Malki said the wounded included women and children.
The Saudi Energy Ministry said the attacks ignited fires at several oil facilities and utilities in the kingdom’s southern region, temporarily halting operations.
The U.K. government said it’s banning trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying an expansion program there is endangering efforts to establish a Palestinian state.
Israel will respond by closing the British consulate in Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Tuesday. He said Israel will also expel U.K. representatives from a joint military center monitoring the Gaza ceasefire and end U.K. training of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces in the West Bank.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said that “settler terrorists” are carrying out “ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians. He said the U.K. will ban imports of all goods from the settlements as well as some services.
Miliband said France and Canada will join the U.K. in the ban.
The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has presided over a surge of settlement construction in the West Bank, which Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war and which would make up the main part of a future Palestinian state.
The international community considers the settlements illegal or illegitimate, and the Palestinians say they are the main barrier to a lasting peace agreement. But Netanyahu’s government views the West Bank as the biblical and historical homeland of the Jewish people and is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.
The United Kingdom, a longtime ally of Israel, recognized Palestinian statehood last year in an attempt to revive dwindling efforts to achieve a two-state solution.
The Trump administration on Tuesday imposed additional sanctions on Iran’s aviation industry, targeting three dozen commercial and private airlines and foreign cargo service providers in its new push to isolate Tehran from trading partners.
The new penalties are part of the White House's “Operation Economic Outcast” campaign aimed at severing the Iranian government's financial lifelines. They focus on the remaining facets of Tehran’s aviation industry, which Washington has heavily sanctioned for years.
The U.S. accused 36 entities targeted this week of supporting Iran's efforts to use its aviation sector to move weapons, personnel, and illicit cargo.
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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
