Britain says it will extend military support to defend Saudi Arabia against Houthi attacks. Meanwhile, in southern Yemen, the death toll a missile strike by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels in a government training camp rose to 73.
The United Nations is warning of a humanitarian crisis in Yemen’s besieged city of Taiz, where strikes on Tuesday killed two people and injured six.
An Israeli attack on an apartment in Gaza killed two people and injured others. The Israeli army said it had targeted a Hamas militant.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East this Tuesday. Read our full coverage here.
Britain extends military support to Saudi Arabia
Britain said it was expanding its military support for Saudi Arabia against the Houthis to include “defensive” air patrols by Royal Air Force planes.
Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said RAF Typhoon aircraft would “conduct counter-air defensive operations over Saudi Arabia, helping to protect Saudi cities, civilian populations and critical national infrastructure from Houthi attacks.”
This means British planes would attack drones or missiles in the air, but Streeting said they would not strike Houthi targets on the ground.
The UK will also send a military transport and an unspecified number of military advisers to Saudi Arabia, Streeting said.
The announcement follows Britain’s decision last month to offer in-flight refueling to Saudi planes operating against Iran-backed rebels. This mission is extended for another 90 days, Streeting said.
Attack on apartment in Gaza before dawn leaves 2 dead
The Israeli army struck an apartment in Gaza before dawn, killing two people and injuring others. The victims were a husband and wife, according to Shifa Hospital. The Israeli army said it had targeted a Hamas activist.
The attack follows strikes on Monday that killed at least four people.
More than 1,500 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israel since last year’s ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, according to the territory’s health ministry. The ministry maintains detailed records and is considered generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts.
The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its tally, but says women and children account for nearly half of those killed.
Death toll from training camp attacks reaches 73
Senior Yemeni official says death toll a Houthi missile strike in a government military camp in southern Yemen has grown to 73 people.
The recruits were all aged 18 to 20, and some were still missing a day after Iran-backed rebels struck the al-Alam training camp in the southern province of Shabwa with ballistic missiles, Shabwa Governor Awad Ibn al-Wazir told The Associated Press.
Monday’s strike was part of a recent surge in fighting in Yemen, which began when forces from the internationally recognized government and Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes on the Houthi-held Sanaa International Airport in July, shattering a 2022 ceasefire agreement that had largely ended fighting in the country’s civil war.
UN says Houthi siege in Taiz risks causing humanitarian crisis
A Houthi missile struck a residential area in the besieged city of Taiz on Tuesday, killing two teenage girls and injuring six others, local authorities said. Several buildings in the city’s Seina district were also damaged, according to provincial authorities.
The Houthis besieged The third largest city in Yemen as part of their months-long offensive against Yemeni government forces, repeatedly targeting them with missiles and artillery.
Rebels have largely surrounded the city and cut off most supply routes from government-controlled areas, putting civilians in “grave danger,” U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said Tuesday. The UN warned that the siege had caused prices to skyrocket, leaving many residents without food and other basic necessities.
“Humanitarian aid must be immediately allowed to enter the city and its passage must be facilitated. Civilians wishing to leave must be allowed to do so freely and safely,” Türk said.
— By Samy Magdy in Cairo
Qatar says Israel not committed to negotiating end to Gaza war
A senior Qatari official said Israeli leaders are not committed to a negotiated end to the Gaza war and are instead focused solely on “war, death and destruction” ahead of Israel’s first national elections since the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023.
“Unfortunately, at present we do not have a partner for peace in Israel,” said Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry and adviser to the Qatari prime minister, speaking to The Associated Press on stage at the Global Security Forum in Doha.
Al-Ansari said: “You look at all the statements made by all the political parties and all the political candidates right now during the elections. Do any of them even talk about peace with the Palestinians? Do any of them even talk about the stability of the region?”
— By Victoria Eastwood in Doha
Netanyahu speaks with Trump about Iran
Netanyahu suggested that Israel and the United States could launch new attacks against Iran in a video he released during a call with Trump.
During the call, Netanyahu thanked Trump for his supportwhich took place about a week before the Israeli national elections. Netanyahu faces a tight re-election race, widely seen as a referendum on his leadership before and after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and through a series of inconclusive wars, including with Iran.
“Donald, we have a job to finish. You said it, and we will finish it together. We will finish it, and no one else will,” Netanyahu said in the video.
Turkey moves closer to ratifying defense deal with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan
Turkey has submitted to Parliament a mutual defense agreement it signed with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan for ratification.
The agreement commits the parties to consider an armed attack against one of them as an attack against all three, obliging them to provide immediate assistance, according to a text of the agreement obtained Tuesday by public broadcaster TRT.
It also paves the way for closer military cooperation, intelligence sharing and defense industry collaboration through joint production and technology transfers.
The agreement, made up of 16 articles, will be examined by a parliamentary committee before being put to a vote by the general assembly of the Turkish parliament.
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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
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