Dubai City, Oct 17: An airstrike killed three children in Yemen and wounded others. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels accused Saudi Arabia of the attack. Meanwhile, a journalist underwent surgery after being attacked by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
Here is the latest news from West Asia on Saturday.
Airstrike kills three kids in Yemen
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels say that airstrikes from Saudi Arabia killed three children in Yemen’s southwestern province of Dhamar.
The Houthi-run health ministry said Saturday that the strikes a day prior hit houses in al-Ar village in the Dawran Aness district, killing one child aged 8 and two children aged 10 and wounding more than a dozen people.
The Houthis blamed Saudi Arabia for the strike, which comes amid heightened fighting between the group and the kingdom and its Yemeni allies. Saudi Arabia didn’t immediately comment on the strike.
The children are among 124 people the Houthis say have been killed in their territories since fighting resumed in September, according to the ministry.
Journo undergoes surgery after Israeli settler attack
Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine is undergoing surgery on her finger Saturday, which was nearly detached from her hand after she was beaten by settlers in the West Bank, her daughter said. Ashley Milner told The Associated Press that the finger on her mother’s left hand was cut to the bone and a tendon was visible. She said Levine also has a broken rib and multiple broken vertebrae as well as lacerations across her body.
Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian villages across the occupied West Bank on Friday, setting fire to cars and trees and beating residents as well as Levine in the latest violence to disrupt the territory’s annual olive harvest this month.
Levine said the perpetrators – armed with bottles and slingshots – “were kicking me for like 10 minutes and I was trying to hold onto my cameras and my bag.”
She said her helmet and protective vest, which was marked “PRESS,” likely saved her from more serious injuries. Settler violence against Palestinians has soared this year and spiked further in the weeks leading up to Israel’s October 27 election. Israeli authorities have done little to stop the attacks, residents and rights groups say.
Houthi strikes on Saudi show Yemeni rebels’ growing strength
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have put their growing military capabilities on display in recent weeks, repeatedly striking Saudi Arabia’s main international airport hundreds of miles (kilometers) away and seizing territory inside Yemen near a key shipping chokepoint.
At various times over the last decade, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Britain and Israel have carried out punishing air raids on the rebels – only to see them grow even stronger.
The Saudis have struggled to counter the latest attacks, even with far superior US-supplied arms. A senior Saudi diplomat told reporters this week that Iran was encouraging the escalation and that over the summer the Houthis had spurned an offer to negotiate.
The rebels are increasingly well-armed
The Houthis already have a wide array of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones – many resembling Iranian models – that can reach all the Gulf states as well as Israel. They have also used sophisticated anti-ship missiles and naval drones to strike vessels in the Red Sea, threatening a critical trade route.
Iran denies arming the Houthis, which would violate a U.N. embargo. China has not directly responded to the latest report but says it has a “prudent and responsible” approach to military exports.
Smuggled Iranian weapons and parts have been seized from numerous Yemen-bound shipments, and a report by U.N. experts in 2024 documented extensive military ties between the Houthis, Iran and its other allies. (AP)