Dubai: A Houthi official said Tuesday that Saudi warplanes struck Yemen, killing three people, including two children, while Human Rights Watch accused the Houthi rebels of possible war crimes with its attacks on commercial vessels.
The renewed fighting in Yemen is endangering civilians and threatening shipping through the Red Sea, a route that has become more important due to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran February 28 to spark the war.
The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the Houthi official’s claim. The official didn’t say what the Saudi warplanes had targeted.
Here’s a look at the latest news in the Middle East. Full coverage can be found.
3 killed in Saudi airstrikes in Yemen’s southwest, Houthis say
Anees al Asbahi, a spokesperson for the Houthi-run Health Ministry, said in an X post Tuesday that Saudi airstrikes killed three people, including two children, in Yemen’s Taiz province. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the claim.
Al-Asbahi said that two other people were wounded in the strikes.
The escalation comes as the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have seized the strategic islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish in the southern Red Sea, bolstering their ability to control a key maritime shipping route.
Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz – through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas transits in peacetime – in the opening days of the war. The Saudis have since used the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which leads out of the Red Sea, for crude oil exports.
The Houthis’ latest seizures, which follow their capture of the Red Sea port of Mokha and a strategic island last week, puts more pressure on Saudi shipments and, in turn, global oil supplies and prices.
This could give Iran additional leverage in the war.
Human Rights Watch accuses Houthis of war crimes
New York-based Human Rights Watch said Tuesday that at least three attacks by Houthi rebels against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden between July 20 and August 24 could amount to war crimes.
The Houthi attacks against Saudi-linked shipping started in mid-July in the latest flare-up of violence in the Yemen civil war.
Niku Jafarnia, a Yemen and Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that irrespective of any politics involved, attacks on civilian crews carried out deliberately or recklessly are war crimes.
The Houthis say their attacks on Saudi-linked shipping are retaliation for the Saudi-led coalition blockade on the Houthi-held areas in Yemen, a measure related to Yemen’s decade-old civil war.
The rights organisation said that the Houthis claimed to have attacked at least nine vessels over the span of a month, including two Saudi-flagged vessels, a Tanzania-flagged vessel and a Dominica-flagged vessel.
Human Rights Watch urged the Houthis to immediately and unconditionally end all unlawful attacks on civilian ships.
Oman tows targeted’ oil tanker to port
Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said Tuesday that a Panama-flagged oil tanker was towed to port in Oman after it was targeted.
The centre said that a fire had broken out in the El Gaia tanker’s engine room and 23 crew members have been evacuated. The search for two missing crew members was ongoing.
The vessel was targeted 15 miles (24 kilometres) northeast of the Musandam governorate.
US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said in a post on X Monday that Iran had struck the tanker with a drone over the weekend as the ship sat off the coast of Oman. The tanker was rendered inoperable last month after being struck by an Iranian missile.
CENTCOM, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East and is based in Tampa, Florida, said that Iranian claims that the El Gaia had recently struck a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz were false.
Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre, or UKMTO, reported Tuesday that a vessel was attacked by an unknown projectile within the Strait of Hormuz a day before. It said that no damage was reported, and it wasn’t immediately clear if this was the El Gaia.
Saudi crown prince to meet with Egypt’s president
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto leader, travelled Tuesday to Cairo for talks with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
The Saudi state-run SPA news agency reported that bin Salman and el-Sissi will discuss means to strengthen bilateral brotherly relations, and issues of mutual interest.
The trip comes as Saudi Arabia faces increasing missiles and drone attacks from the Houthis and militias in Iraq.
Egypt is a close ally of Saudi Arabia.
Turkey calls for renewed talks to ease regional tensions
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan Tuesday called for renewed diplomatic efforts to swiftly quell regional tensions.
Fidan told a joint news conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart in Baku that safe, uninterrupted and free passage through the Strait of Hormuz should resume and that the prewar status quo should be restored as soon as possible.
He said that Turkey was continuing to engage with all sides to end tensions, without providing details.
Iran’s top diplomat to visit China
China’s Foreign Ministry said that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit the country Wednesday and meet with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
