A drone strike in Sudan has killed dozens of people, including children, a rights group said Saturday.
Separately, attacks on Riyadh’s international airport earlier this week damaged three planes, officials said. Israeli strikes killed five Palestinians in Gaza. And Lebanon welcomed the lifting of a decades-long flight ban with the United States.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Saturday. Read our full coverage here.
Drone strike kills at least 40 people in Sudan, rights group says
A drone strike has killed at least 40 people, including children, in Sudan along the border with Ethiopia, according to Emergency Lawyers, a group that tracks the war.
It says the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group that has been fighting the Sudanese army since 2023, was responsible for Friday’s strike in the Abu Shandi area of Sudan’s Blue Nile province.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it was dismayed by the strike.
The conflict has killed at least 150,000 people, according to conflict monitoring body ACLED, although humanitarian groups say the real number is likely higher.
Strikes hit Sanaa airport, Houthis say
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said on Saturday that four strikes had hit Sanaa International Airport in the Yemeni capital. The Houthi press center accused Saudi Arabia of being responsible for the attack, without providing further details.
These attacks took place as the Houthis battled Yemeni government forces on the Red Sea coast, with Saudi Arabia providing air cover to their allies in Yemen.
The Saudi government-run Center for International Communication, which oversees foreign media in the kingdom, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
UAE says 22 crew members rescued from burning tanker
The United Arab Emirates National Guard rescued 22 crew members after a fire broke out aboard an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, the force said Saturday.
The crew members, all of Asian nationality, received first aid and are in stable condition, the press release said. The guard did not identify the tanker or specify the location or cause of the fire.
A surge in attacks has targeted commercial ships transiting the nearby Strait of Hormuz during the U.S.-Iran war.
Houthi attacks on Saudi airport damage 3 planes
Two regional officials said Thursday’s attacks by Houthi rebels on Riyadh airport damaged three planes. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
Three Saudi citizens were killed in the attack and several others were injured, Saudi Arabia’s General Civil Aviation Authority said Friday.
Air traffic was disrupted again Friday evening when the Houthis fired another missile at the airport, one of the officials said.
Also Friday, the spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, said forces had destroyed 136 military targets in rebel-controlled areas in neighboring Yemen. He said the coalition is working to “destroy the ballistic missile network of the Houthi terrorist militia.” The AP could not independently verify these claims.
— By Samy Magdy
Lebanese president welcomes Trump’s decision to remove flight restrictions
The Lebanese presidency announced on Saturday the official lifting of restrictions on flights between Lebanon and the United States. The Reagan administration suspended direct flights between the United States and Lebanon in 1985 following the hijacking of TWA Flight 847.
Trump made the surprise announcement in July during a visit by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. He ordered the restrictions lifted almost two weeks ago, but the decision was announced publicly on Saturday.
Aoun welcomed the move, saying it demonstrates U.S. confidence in Lebanon’s steps to improve civil aviation safety.
The move comes after the Iran-backed Hezbollah group was severely weakened by two wars with Israel over the past two years, in which many of the group’s political and military commanders were killed.
Israeli strikes kill five Palestinians in Gaza, health officials say
An Israeli strike killed four people Saturday in western Gaza City, while another killed one person in the eastern city, officials at Shifa Hospital said.
The Israeli military said it targeted Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters.
Saturday’s strikes came a year after a ceasefire agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas, and yet Israel still launches strikes almost daily. Since the ceasefire, more than 1,480 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry.
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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
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