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OIC condemns Houthi attack on Mecca, which rebels deny
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation condemned Wednesday the Houthis' "heinous" attack on Islam's holy city Mecca, which the rebel group has denied.
"The General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemns the heinous attacks carried out by the Houthi group against the city of Makkah and the Madinah region, as well as its ongoing aggression against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," the OIC said in a statement posted on X.
Houthi official says Saudi claim of an attack on Mecca a 'lie'
Saudi Arabia says it intercepted Houthi drone south of Mecca
Saudi Arabia's air defences intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca on Tuesday before it entered prohibited airspace over the holy city, said a spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition fighting Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis.
The security of Islam's two holiest sites and of pilgrims was a "red line," coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki said early on Wednesday, adding that the coalition would take necessary deterrent measures against the Houthis.
Mecca, home to shrines sacred to Muslims worldwide, is Islam's holiest city and the focal point of the annual hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, which millions of Muslims undertake each year.
Malki described the incident as the second Houthi attempt to target Mecca, following what the coalition said was a ballistic missile launch in July 2017.
Israeli authorities detain Palestinian-American journalist in West Bank
Israeli authorities detained a Palestinian-American journalist on Tuesday as she returned from a reporting assignment in the occupied West Bank, her sister and a colleague said.
Naqaa Hamed covered violence by Israeli settlers towards Palestinians in the West Bank, including in the village of Qusra, where settlers trapped residents inside and refused to let in food or other supplies.
Hamed "was abducted today at the Tequ' checkpoint in Bethlehem while returning from covering the suffering of Palestinians", her sister Fatima Bajes Salem wrote on Facebook.
Soldiers arrested Hamed after stopping her and fellow reporters, said journalist Hamada Mansour, who was travelling with her.
He told AFP that Hamed's colleagues were allowed to leave.
He added that she was working for Turkish public broadcaster TRT.
Media reports said Hamed also worked until recently for Iranian English-speaking broadcaster Press TV, which reported on the arrest, identifying her as its West Bank correspondent.
According to Mansour, Hamed was a freelance journalist who no longer worked for the outlet.
Israeli authorities have not commented on the arrest.
Israel's largest news site Ynet cited unidentified Israeli military sources as saying Hamed is suspected of "cooperating with an enemy entity and may also be under suspicion of espionage".
US on track to approve $2.8 billion arms package for Israel
The US federal government is on track to approve a $2.8 billion arms package for Israel, US media reported Tuesday, with the sale of 40,000 one-ton bombs among the largest munitions packages sold in recent years.
The Washington Post said the package – funded with US taxpayer dollars – featured some of the most destructive munitions in Western arsenals, including 20,000 MK-84s, 20,000 BLU-117s, and 20,000 I-2000 Penetrator warheads.
The New York Times said the administration of US President Donald Trump had approved the sale, citing a US official.
A senior administration official told AFP that "all foreign arms sales are moving through the appropriate process," but wouldn't comment on pending transactions.
Meanwhile, a State Department spokesperson told AFP that "as a matter of policy, the Department does not confirm or comment on proposed arms sales until they have been formally notified to Congress."
Explosions heard on Iran's Qeshm island
Several explosions were heard on Iran's Qeshm island, Iranian official IRNA news agency reported, citing local sources as saying, adding the sounds appeared to have come from the direction of the sea.
US military says it destroyed 2 small Iranian boats trying to steal a sea drone
The US military said Tuesday that it opened fire and destroyed two small Iranian boats this week that were trying to steal a drone ship in the waters off Iran, the latest back-and-forth fire in the stalemated war.
Capt. Tim Hawkins, US Central Command spokesman, said the Iranian boats “recently attempted to take possession of a US unmanned surface vessel" but failed after the military "forcefully responded."
Iranian state media reported Monday that a pair of fishing boats came under attack in Hormozgan province on Iran’s southern coast and that several fishermen were reported missing, citing a provincial official.
Oil spikes as Saudis sucked into Yemen spiral
Saudi crown prince seeks neighbours' backing as Houthi attacks rattle Red Sea oil routes
Iran war has cost US $38 bn, Congressional Budget Office says
The war with Iran has cost the United States around $38 billion as of August 1, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday, estimating monthly expenses could rise by billions if the conflict wears on.
"As of August 1, 2026, the armed conflict with Iran has cost (the Department of Defense) approximately $38 billion," said the CBO in a report, referring to the war that started after US-Israeli strikes targeting Iran from late February.
It added that depending on the intensity of violence, costs per month could range between $2-$3 billion or more if the conflict continued.
US ambassador visits Lebanon army-held 'pilot zone' near Israel
The US ambassador to Lebanon visited the country's south, his embassy said, where he went to a village that recently came under the control of the Lebanese army following a deal with Israel.
The US-backed June agreement states that the Israeli military will withdraw from areas of south Lebanon it occupied in parallel with the deployment of the Lebanese army, starting with so-called pilot zones, under the condition that militant group Hezbollah disarms.
Israeli strikes in Gaza kill two people, including a child, medics say
Israeli airstrikes hit a vehicle, killing at least two Palestinians, including a child, and wounding seven others in the northern Gaza Strip neighbourhood of Sheikh Radwan, the territory's health officials said.
The Israeli military said it had struck a militant in the area, without elaborating.
Witnesses said some of the casualties resulted from a second strike that hit near a group of people who rushed to help in the rescue. A video, that wasn't immediately verified by Reuters, showed a missile exploding near at least five men
Egypt's Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince stress need for security of Red Sea navigation
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stressed the need to ensure freedom and security of navigation in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea during talks, the Egyptian presidency said.
Sisi also expressed support for Saudi measures to protect its security and stability, and for efforts to reach a comprehensive and sustainable political solution to the Yemen crisis, the presidency said.
Oman says searching for two crew members after tanker hit
Oman said it was searching for two missing crew members who were aboard a tanker targeted in the Strait of Hormuz that was now being towed.
Vessels in the vital strait have come under repeated attack as Tehran seeks to maintain a stranglehold on the waterway in its war with the United States. Washington has also kept up a counterblockade of Iranian ports.
More than 100,000 flee fighting in Yemen, UN says
Flaring fighting between government forces and Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen has displaced more than 100,000 people inside the country, while thousands more have fled abroad, the United Nations said.
The UN refugee agency warned in a statement that "rapidly escalating hostilities along Yemen's western coast have displaced more than 100,000 people inside the country and forced thousands more to seek safety across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in Djibouti".
A makeshift camp for people displaced by clashes between Iran-aligned Houthi fighters and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces, in Taiz province, Yemen, September 14, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. © Stringer, Reuters
Saudi crown prince lands in Egypt to meet Sisi, Egyptian state-linked media report
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in Cairo ahead of meetings with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egyptian state-linked media said, as the kingdom reels from strikes by Yemen's Houthis.
The Saudi de facto ruler "arrived in Egypt on an official visit", reported Al-Qahera News, which is close to Egyptian intelligence services. Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said Sisi received the crown prince for his "work visit".
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) walking along side Saudi de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a welcoming ceremony on September 15, 2026. © Ahmed Nureldine, AFP
Israeli army kills Palestinian man in West Bank raid
Israel's military shot and killed a Palestinian man during a raid in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said.
The army said it fired at someone who tried to seize a soldier's weapon.
The Palestinian health ministry announced the death of 54-year-old Ziad Mohammad Jaber by "Israeli army gunfire in Umm al-Sharayet, in the city of Al-Bireh", near Ramallah in the central West Bank.
In the early hours of Tuesday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said its crews were treating someone who sustained "a critical live-fire gunshot wound to the abdomen and thigh" during a military raid in Umm al-Sharayet.
Qatar warns against 'catastrophic' Bab el-Mandeb closure
Qatar has warned of dire consequences if the vital Bab el-Mandeb waterway were to close, after a months-long blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and recent Houthi gains on the Red Sea coast.
"The world is suffering enough with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, so we cannot also afford to add the Bab el-Mandeb into that equation," Qatar foreign ministry official Ibrahim Al Hashmi told reporters.
He said a closure of the southern entrance to the Red Sea would be "catastrophic for the entire world. And we are already seeing the consequences... so Qatar is pushing for diplomacy, dialogue".
US ambassador visits Lebanon 'pilot zone' near Israel
The US ambassador to Lebanon has visited a southern village that recently came under the control of the Lebanese army as part of a framework agreement with Israel.
The US-backed June agreement states that the Israeli military will withdraw from areas of south Lebanon it occupied in parallel with the deployment of the Lebanese army, starting with "pilot zones", under the condition that militant group Hezbollah disarms.
An AFP correspondent saw a convoy carrying the US envoy, Michel Issa, entering the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiya, where he visited a church, according to Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA).
Israel's forces remain deployed in what it calls a "security zone", a stretch of Lebanese territory about 10 kilometres deep along the border.
Yesterday's key developments:
• US President Donald Trump said he is willing to negotiate with Iran, after weeks of saying it was too early to make a deal with Tehran to end the Middle East war.
• Saudi Arabia launched dozens of air strikes on western Yemen after Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked military facilities in the kingdom.
• Saudi Arabia requested the postponement of a meeting between Tehran and Gulf powers on the Strait of Hormuz that was supposed to take place in Oman on Monday.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)
