Saudi Arabia vs Houthis: Conflict Intensifies
A Saudi-led coalition said it had struck Houthi sites and destroyed targets threatening commercial vessels. The attacks were described as a response to assaults on shipping in the Red Sea.
The strikes came after the Houthis claimed attacks on two Saudi ships in the Red Sea this week.
“The terrorist Houthi military… targeted merchant ships in the Red Sea,” Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, wrote on the social media platform X.
“The coalition carried out a firm and forceful response” by targeting Houthi military sites used to threaten shipping in the Red Sea, and that “the military response has now ended,” al-Maliki added.
Two wounded
Yemeni Houthi media said two people were wounded as a result of Saudi Arabian air strikes. The victims were a worker in the city of Hodeida and a woman on Kamaran island.
“A worker at the telecommunications building was wounded in the Saudi aggression in the city of Hodeida,” said al-Masirah television.
Houthis vow to avenge Saudi attacks
The Houthi rebel group in Yemen vowed to retaliate against Saudi Arabia after accusing the kingdom of targeting civilian infrastructure. The threat of reprisal came as the Middle East war widened across the region.
Riyadh struck Houthi military targets in Hodeida, Yemen, on Friday (24/7). Houthi media reported two people wounded after the Iran-backed group announced a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia and attacked its ships.
The rise in tensions marks a new front in a war that has engulfed the region following the US-Israeli attacks on Iran last February.
“The targeting of civilian facilities by the Saudi enemy in Hodeida and Kamaran island represents a dangerous escalation,” the Houthi-owned Ansarollah media outlet wrote on Telegram, as reported by AFP on Saturday (25/7/2026).
“We affirm that these recent crimes will not go unanswered,” it added.
A Yemeni security source told AFP that a naval base in the port city of Hodeida and a military camp on Kamaran island were among the targets of the Saudi strikes.
Houthis launch missiles at Saudi Arabia
The Houthi rebel group in Yemen claimed it had launched a missile attack on Saudi Arabia on Saturday (25/7), hours after vowing to retaliate against the kingdom as the Middle East war widened.
According to AFP on Saturday (25/7/2026), the Houthi-owned Ansarollah media outlet said on Telegram on Saturday morning that a “Yemeni missile attack” had triggered fires in the city of Jizan in the Red Sea region of southern Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia did not immediately comment on the claim.
However, Riyadh’s civil defence authority had earlier issued a brief warning to residents of Jizan and Yanbu on Saturday morning about “potential danger”. The warning was withdrawn minutes later.
Similar warnings had previously been issued when missiles or drones were fired towards the kingdom.
The warning came after the Saudi-led coalition said on Friday (24/7) that it had struck Houthi sites and destroyed targets threatening commercial ships. The attacks were described as a response to Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
The Houthi group has been fighting the Yemeni government since 2014 in a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.
The recent exchanges of fire threaten the 2022 ceasefire that had largely held until now.