Live: Houthis target Saudi airports as Yemen fighting intensifies

Armed Israeli settlers on Tuesday beat an AFP photographer, leaving him requiring hospital treatment, as he covered ongoing violence by settlers against the olive farmers in the occupied West Bank.

Jaafar Ashtiyeh, 58, a veteran photographer for the international news agency in the Palestinian territory, suffered bruises to his head and torso and was taken by ambulance to a hospital, according to witnesses, his family and fellow journalists.

Ashtiyeh and another AFP photographer, John Wessels, were near the northern village of Aqraba where they noticed an Israeli soldier detaining a man as local Palestinians picked olives.

A quadbike suddenly raced towards the AFP journalists on top of a hill, and a man from it opened live fire, with one Palestinian dropping to the ground. He was also hospitalised, with a gunshot to the foot, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

At least six other people then rushed towards the AFP journalists, firing guns. As Ashtiyeh attempted to enter a car, which was clearly marked "Press", two men jumped on him and beat him repeatedly with the butts of their rifles.

Ashtiyeh, who is Palestinian, will remain in hospital for round-the-clock observation.

Reporting by AFP

Iran summoned French ambassador to Tehran Pierre Cochard on Tuesday over Paris's treatment of protesters demanding better conditions in schools, state media reported, with French police having clashed for days with demonstrators.

Iran accused France of "violent treatment" of the protesters and "extensive and flagrant human rights violations" during the demonstrations, which began late last month and have been accompanied by unrest.

Relations between France and Iran have been strained for months, with the two expelling each other's diplomats in August. 

Iran itself suffered major anti-government protests in January, during which the authorities reported more than 3,000 deaths, blaming "terrorist acts" orchestrated by the United States and Israel. 

Oman carried out a medical evacuation for 10 crew members of the ​Panama-flagged oil tanker On Peace, which was attacked near the Gulf country, the media office of the Sultanate's armed forces said on Tuesday.

Separately, India's foreign ministry said 12 crew members, mostly Indian, were wounded after an unknown projectile struck a tanker while it passed through the Strait of Hormuz.

It did not provide details on the condition of the wounded.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said on Tuesday that the US Department of War prevented him from visiting a US military base in Qatar, which had been attacked by Iran, in order to conceal the damage.

"This trip confirmed for me that there is an active, unprecedented, unconstitutional effort underway to hide the costs of this war and the implications of this war from Congress and the American people," Murphy told journalists in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which he visited after a stop in Qatar.

Murphy, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wanted to visit al-Udeid, the headquarters of US Central Command (Centcom), which oversees all US military activity in the Middle East. The base was hit by Iran in retaliation for the US-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic, which started on 28 February.

Read more: US senator says he was denied access to damaged military base in Qatar

The Saudi-led coalition said its forces have intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis.

The coalition spokesman, Major-General Turki al-Malki, said the target of the missile was Saudi Arabia’s Khamis Mushait city.

A suspected plot involving Iran to launch a complex drone attack on a key British airbase led the United States to remove its B-1 bomber aircraft from the base, two US officials told Reuters on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Iran has denied any involvement in an alleged plot at RAF Fairford, the preferred European ​base for US bombers. British police said on Tuesday they had arrested a 22-year-old British man in London on suspicion of preparation of what it called terrorist acts as part of their investigation into the suspected plot.

A spokesperson for the US military's European Command declined to comment, saying: "It is inappropriate to discuss matters of intelligence, and we will not discuss specific force protection measures.

"As demonstrated across multiple operations, America's bombers, including B-1s, B-2s, and B-52s, can deliver precision global strike capabilities – including through operations that launch and recover from the continental United States – anywhere, anytime," the spokesperson said.

Turkey plans to step up its military support for Saudi Arabia in the coming weeks by deploying additional personnel and defence equipment amid escalating Houthi attacks on the kingdom, several Turkish officials told Middle East Eye on Tuesday.

In a joint statement on Monday, Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia said they had decided to immediately implement their collective defence commitments under the Makkah Alliance for Defence and provide "the agreed military forces and capabilities to ensure their rapid deployment" to the kingdom.

Two Turkish officials familiar with Ankara's plans told MEE that Turkey had maintained technical teams, air defence systems and electronic warfare equipment in the kingdom since last year to protect critical infrastructure, including energy facilities.

Read more: Turkey to deploy troops and air defence systems to Saudi Arabia amid Houthi attacks

More than 130,000 people have been displaced inside Yemen since the beginning of August amid renewed fighting between government forces and Ansar Allah (Houthis), the UN refugee agency said on Tuesday. 

UNHCR also reported that nearly 3,700 people had fled Yemen for Djibouti since 10 September. 

The World Health Organisation said 959 people were killed and 4,207 wounded across Yemen between 4 August and 2 October. 
 
The WHO also reported that cholera cases had tripled in three weeks, with 94 percent of recent cases recorded in five governorates hosting large numbers of displaced people, including Taiz, Aden and Abyan.

California political leaders on Tuesday condemned President Donald Trump after he said Iran could “take out” US cities including Los Angeles and San Diego, describing the remarks as dangerous and unacceptable.

Speaking at a political rally on Monday, Trump was discussing the economic costs of war when he said: “It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, for keeping our country safe. They could take out a city. Let ’em take out Los Angeles, let ’em take out San Diego.” 

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Trump’s remarks could compromise the city’s safety, while San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said: “We are never a ‘small price to pay.’ Keep our city out of your reckless war talk.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom also criticised Trump, calling him “deranged”. 

Republican congressional candidate Jim Desmond said he “vehemently” disagreed with the president, adding that “no American city is expendable and no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage.”

Yemen’s government said on Tuesday that its forces are inflicting “heavy losses in personnel and equipment” on Houthi fighters during clashes in southern Taiz.

The Taiz Axis Media Centre said government-aligned troops, backed by popular resistance forces, were engaged in fierce fighting with the Houthis on the Al-Salw front south of Taiz. 

The Yemeni government also said earlier that air strikes targeted Houthi vehicles and gatherings in the village of Quds in Al-Mawasat district, south of Taiz.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on all parties involved in the US-Israel war on Iran to “end the conflict, return to diplomacy and restore navigational rights in accordance with international law”.

Speaking to reporters in Islamabad alongside Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Guterres said regional peace was also linked to “the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people”.

He also praised Pakistan’s role in mediating between the United States and Iran.

Yemen’s Houthis on Monday said the group is actively targeting airports and Saudi Aramco oil facilities in Saudi Arabia with drones and ballistic missiles, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said.

He described the attacks as retaliation for the Saudi blockade and recent air strikes on Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa.

Saudi officials said fighter jets carried out hundreds of air strikes on Yemen on Monday as the internationally recognised government launched a ground offensive aimed at retaking areas lost to the Houthis in southwestern Yemen and along the Red Sea coast. 

The intensified Saudi strikes have been followed by an increase in Houthi missile and drone attacks on the kingdom.

Three years into Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Palestinian families are still searching for answers about thousands of relatives who vanished during the war.

Some disappeared during Israeli ground attacks on their neighbourhoods or displacement camps. Others went missing while searching for aid, checking on their homes or travelling near the so-called Yellow Line.

For their families, the absence of any definitive answer has left them suspended between hope and grief, unsure whether to keep waiting or begin mourning.

According to the Independent Commission for Human Rights, more than 11,000 people in Gaza remain unaccounted for, including those believed to be buried beneath the rubble and those suspected of enforced disappearance.

The Palestinian Centre for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared estimates that between 2,500 and 3,000 people are suspected of enforced disappearance, having gone missing or lost contact with their families since the start of the war and through the ceasefire announced on 9 October 2025.

Read more: The agonising wait for Gaza’s missing

The president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, stated on Tuesday that she was taking "extremely seriously" the accusations that MEP Rima Hassan of the La France Insoumise (LFI) party had overturned Israeli and European flags the previous day at an exhibition commemorating the 7 October attacks in Israel.

"A member of this Assembly was filmed apparently vandalising an exhibition commemorating the victims of the terrorist attack perpetrated in Israel on October 7," she declared in the plenary chamber.

"We are taking this matter extremely seriously and all appropriate measures provided for in our procedures are being taken, including respecting the right of the person concerned to be heard," she added.

Rima Hassan has already offered an explanation "shortly after the incident," her office stated.

Upon leaving the exhibition, "Rima Hassan removed the Israeli flag from its stand. The European Union flag, attached to the same base, then unfortunately fell due to the imbalance. No flag was trampled or damaged," according to the statement sent by email to AFP.

"Our action is part of the ongoing condemnation of the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli government," but was "in no way intended to dishonour the people this event was meant to commemorate, nor their memory," they added.

Reporting by AFP

India has condemned an alleged attack on a vessel while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman.

The Ministry of External Affairs said the Panama-flagged commercial vessel MT On Peacewas struck by a projectile.

Of the 19 crew members involved in Tuesday's incident, 17 are Indian nationals.