Saudi airlines resumes flights from King Khalid International Airport after Houthi attacks

UN warns civilians at grave risk as siege of Yemen’s third largest city continues

Middle East / 29 October 2026 Netanyahu alleges foreign interference in Israeli elections 29 October 2026 East Asia / 29 October 2026 China in record-breaking exports of clean energy 29 October 2026 East Asia / 29 October 2026 South Korean prosecutor pushes for death penalty for impeached ex-President Yoon 29 October 2026 China / 29 October 2026 Hong Kong’s housing minister resigns after fire investigation 29 October 2026 The Americas / 28 October 2026 Defeated Bolsonaro flees to Miami as Trump rejects Brazil election result 28 October 2026 Latin America / 28 October 2026 Cuba hits back at US slurs during UN blockade debate 28 October 2026 A LIMITED number of Saudi airlines took off and landed at the country’s main airport today, following multiple Houthi strikes on it this month.

Saudia and FlyNas operated flights from Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport today, according to online flight-tracking data published by FlightAware.

Major carriers, including Lufthansa and Air France, however, have cancelled all flights to the airport until at least mid-November.

Major General Turki al-Malki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting against the Houthis in Yemen, said in a social media post today that five drones fired towards Saudi Arabia were intercepted and destroyed over the holy city of Medina.

The attack was the latest on the autocratic kingdom since it and forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognised government reignited Yemen’s civil war when it attacked Houthi-held Sanaa International Airport in July, shattering a 2022 ceasefire deal that had largely stopped the fighting.

Meanwhile, inside Yemen, the Houthi rebels continued the siege of Taiz today.

The UN has warned that the blockade of Yemen’s third largest city has left many residents without food and other necessities as prices soar.

Following the killing of two teenage girls in Taiz on Tuesday, UN human rights chief Volker Turk warned the fighting was putting civilians at “grave risk.”

“Humanitarian aid must be immediately allowed to enter the city and its passage must be facilitated,” he said.

“Civilians wishing to leave must be allowed to do so freely and safely.”

Mr Turk urged the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces to avoid using explosive weapons in areas where they could hit civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an article for the Financial Times that his government is willing to “give diplomacy another chance,” but is fully prepared to defend itself if full-scale war resumes.

Mr Araghchi gave no details of talks with the US through mediators on Iran’s recent seven-day proposal to end the war and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

He said there was “little reason to expect progress now,” citing what he described as Washington’s unwillingness to advance the talks while threatening further violence.

He warned against renewed US military action, saying: “I can say with complete and utter confidence that it will result in an even greater strategic failure.”