Saudi Arabia says it thwarted a missile strike on Medina, and other Middle East developments

The Saudi -led coalition fighting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels said Thursday it has thwarted a missile attack on the holy city of Medina as well as another attack in the eastern part of the kingdom.

Meanwhile, an Israeli strike in Gaza killed one man, hospital officials said.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Thursday. Read our full coverage here.

Houthis deny responsibility for new attack on holy city

The Saudi-led coalition confirmed in a statement that it intercepted and destroyed a cruise missile over the province of Medina, but notably did not assign blame for the attack.

The Houthis’ military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree denied carrying out the attack. The rebel group previously pledged not to attack airports in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Medina is where the Prophet Muhammad established the Muslim community, while Mecca is where the prophet was born and received his revelations. It’s viewed as the holiest city in Islam.

The international airport in the capital, Riyadh, has suspended service because of Houthi attacks. Dozens of flights also were canceled or delayed at Jeddah airport, according to Flightradar24, a flight tracking platform.

Earlier Thursday, Saudi Arabia also said it destroyed a drone over Eastern province, a major oil-producing region.

The latest conflict between the Saudis and the Houthis began last month after the rebels seized key areas along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical waterway for the transport of Gulf oil and other goods at the southern end of the Red Sea off Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition, backing forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, has been trying to retake them.

Deploying Turkish forces to help Saudis needs parliament approval

Turkey’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that a mutual defense pact between Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, as well as any deployment of Turkish forces under the agreement, requires parliamentary approval.

In a statement, the ministry also indicated that no final decision had been made on the type of assistance Turkey might provide to Saudi Arabia.

The three countries signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement in August, and Turkish officials say it is expected to be ratified by parliament in the coming days. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and other officials have ruled out the deployment of combat troops, stressing that the pact is purely defensive.

Israel carries out deadly strike in Gaza

An Israeli strike north of Gaza City killed one man on Thursday morning, according to officials at Shifa Hospital.

Israel’s military said it struck a “terrorist” in the area, without elaborating.

The strike came over a year after a ceasefire deal was reached between Israel and the Hamas militant group, a period during which Israel continued to launch deadly strikes on the enclave.

More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire was reached in October last year, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. Its figures are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It doesn’t give a breakdown of civilians and militants.

Syria sentences 5 over last year’s coastal violence

A Syrian court on Thursday sentenced two people to death and three others to prison terms over their roles in last year’s sectarian violence in the country’s coastal region.

In March 2025, loyalists of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad attacked members of the new government’s security forces in areas where a large segment of the country’s Alawite religious minority live. The government’s counterinsurgency spiraled into widespread violence in which hundreds of civilians — most of them Alawites — were killed.

Two members of the pro-Assad groups were sentenced to death and a third to 12 years in prison. Two members of the security forces received prison terms.

EU-GCC meeting has been postponed

The European Union announced in a statement that the joint meeting with Gulf Cooperation Council members set for Oct. 24 in the Saudi capital has been pushed back.

No new date has been set for the gathering that would bring together leaders from the 27 EU economies and the Gulf states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates

The EU did not explain why the meeting was being delayed, but the security situation in Riyadh remains uncertain following back-and-forth strikes between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition.

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