Saudi-led coalition says 11 civilians wounded in Houthi attack on Najran
The Saudi-led military coalition supporting Yemen's internationally recognized government said
early on Friday that 11 civilians were wounded in what it described as a Houthi attack on the southern Saudi border region of Najran.
The coalition's spokesperson said in a statement the wounded included seven Saudi nationals, among them a woman and a four-year-old child who suffered second-degree burns, as well as one Yemeni, two Egyptians and one Pakistani national.
Saudi expects imminent attacks from north and south, senior official says
A senior Saudi official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said intelligence reports from Saudi Arabia, the US and regional countries indicated Iraqi militias coordinating with Yemen's Houthis were preparing imminent attacks on the kingdom under the guidance of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
The official said the attacks could target civilian and economic infrastructure, including energy facilities, ports and airports, and that Saudi Arabia had observed drones and missiles being moved, suggesting coordinated operations from the kingdom's north and south.
- Environmental disaster looms as tanker leaks off Oman
- Lebanon state media reports new Israeli strikes in south
- Houthi missile attacks kill 58 Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces
- Israeli settlers attack West Bank Palestinian community, burn homes
- Saudi, Turkish, Pakistan leaders to hold Jeddah summit Friday
Houthi missile attacks kill 58 Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis killed at least 58 government troops in missile and drone attacks, a military source said, after one of the deadliest days in the country's civil war in four years.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the rebels attacked government positions with ballistic missiles and drones in response to an alleged military buildup backed by neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
The attacks killed at least 58 government troops and injured dozens, according to the military source who spoke on condition of anonymity. Medical sources had earlier spoken of 38 dead.
Saudia Arabia will take all necessary measures to respond to 'any aggression', Saudi official says
- Source close to Saudi government says Saudi, Pakistan and Turkish leaders to hold Jeddah summit Friday
- Tanker reports explosions in Hormuz
- Two soldiers killed in Lebanon in the first Israeli deaths since June truce with Hezbollah
- Lebanon state media reports new Israeli strikes in south
- Houthi rebel attacks kill at least 30 Yemeni government forces, officials say
- Yemeni government says will respond to Houthi attacks 'at appropriate time'
Trump says he thinks war with Iran will end 'pretty soon'
US President Donald Trump told reporters that he believes the war with Iran would be over soon.
"I think it's going to end pretty soon. I don't think they can go much longer," Trump said in the Oval Office in a reference to Iran.
Saudi, Turkish, Pakistan leaders to hold Jeddah summit Friday
A source close to the Saudi government told AFP that the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey will hold a summit on Friday in Jeddah.
An agenda for the talks between Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Pakistani Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was not given. But the meeting comes with Iran and the United States locked in a showdown on reopening the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Military source says 58 people killed in Iran-backed Houthi attacks on Yemen government forces
A military source told AFP that at least 58 people were killed in attacks by Iran-backed Houthi forces against Saudi-supported Yemen government troops.
The fighting is the worst in more than three years in Yemen's civil war. A Houthi military spokesman said the ballistic missile and drone attack came in response to an alleged military buildup backed by Saudi Arabia. Medical sources had earlier spoken of at least 38 killed in the strikes on several military camps.
Israel refuses to withdraw from more south Lebanon areas at talks
Israel refused in talks to withdraw from more areas of south Lebanon unless the Lebanese army had full control of an initial two "pilot zones", a Lebanese presidential source told AFP.
The seventh round of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel was held in Rome under US auspices aimed at ending hostilities between Israel and militant group Hezbollah that have been a violent second front of the Middle East war.
The Lebanese source told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that the talks had "not yielded definitive results regarding the pilot zones".
While the outlook from Beirut was dim, a US State Department spokesperson told AFP that the talks were "productive".
Erdogan to visit Saudi Arabia Friday
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Saudi Arabia Friday for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif, Erdogan's office announced.
Pakistan has been acting as a mediator to try to end the US-Iran war that has drawn in several Gulf countries and paralysed maritime traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Oman responds to stranded vessel off Dhofar, state media says
Oman's transport ministry and environment authority said it was responding to an incident involving the CAROLINE BEZENGI vessel, which is stranded near the Hallaniyat Islands off the southern governorate of Dhofar, to limit any potential environmental impact, Omani state media reported.
Explosion in Damascus suburb kills at least 1 person, wounds several others
An explosion in a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus killed at least one person and wounded several others, according to Syrian state media and an Associated Press journalist at the scene.
Syrian state television cited an unnamed security official as saying the explosion in Jaramana was caused by an explosive device planted in a minivan taxi. Syria's Health Ministry said at least seven people were wounded. An AP journalist at the scene of the attack saw one body pulled from the wreckage.
Residents and rescue workers rushed to the scene. Witnesses told the AP that there were passengers inside the vehicle that exploded, and that the blast rattled the busy commercial street.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Israeli settlers attack West Bank Palestinian community, burn homes
Israeli settlers attacked a small Palestinian community in the occupied West Bank, injuring people, destroying homes and smashing their power source, the military and residents said, in the latest in a spate of violent confrontations.
AFP journalists in remote Khirbet al-Tuba saw buildings blackened by fire and smoke, the interiors of three homes completely burned and graffiti in Hebrew spray-painted on remaining structures.
The dozen solar panels the isolated southern community relies on for power had also been smashed to render them unusable.
The Israeli military said it "strongly condemned" the raid and that it had responded after "homes being set on fire and Palestinians being attacked in the area by Israeli civilians" late Wednesday.
Yemeni government says will respond to Houthi attacks 'at appropriate time'
Yemeni authorities said they would retaliate to several Houthi rebel attacks earlier in the day, which medical sources said killed 38 government troops in the deadliest toll since a 2022 truce between both sides.
The defence ministry of Yemen's internationally recognised government said in a statement that its armed forces would respond to the missile and drone attacks "at the appropriate place and time".
Trump says he is "extremely happy" with Pentagon chief Hegseth
US President Donald Trump said he was very happy with the work Pete Hegseth was doing at the Pentagon, dismissing a report that the two clashed over concerns about missile depletion from the Iran war.
"I am extremely happy with the job that Pete Hegseth is doing," Trump posted on social media.
Iranian parliamentary committee reviews draft bill to bar US, Israeli ships from Hormuz, Fars news agency says
An Iranian parliamentary committee is reviewing a preliminary bill that would bar US, Israeli and other "hostile" vessels from transiting the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported, citing a lawmaker.
The draft bill would impose fines of up to 20 percent of a ship's cargo value for violations of the proposed restrictions.
The lawmaker said the legislation was still under expert review and that parliament had invited specialists to submit recommendations before the draft is finalised.
EU's Kallas welcomes announcement of Gaza agreement
The European Union welcomes the announcement of an agreement to permanently decommission weapons from Hamas and other non-state armed groups and withdraw Israeli forces from Gaza, Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat, said.
"We call on all parties to approve and implement the agreement without delay," Kallas said in a statement. US President Donald Trump announced a "major milestone" towards implementing the Gaza peace plan announced in October, saying Hamas would disarm and Israel would withdraw in phases.
But residents of Gaza have said the announcement is out of touch with their reality.
'She was haemorrhaging': In the West Bank, the checkpoint ordeal for pregnant women
Roads blocked and checkpoints closed: after every outbreak of violence, Israel seals off the West Bank. Like after events in Nablus, where two Israeli settlers and four Palestinians died on July 24.
FRANCE 24's correspondent Claire Duhamel travelled with a paramedic who regularly transports pregnant women to hospital.
Yesterday's key developments:
- Iran said Wednesday it is in the "final stage" of drafting an agreement with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz , and US President Donald Trump has said a deal could be announced this week.
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US Vice President JD Vance acknowledged Wednesday that it can seem like the US is not making progress in Iran, describing the effort to end the war as "messy" and that "it’s going to take some time".
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The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed Wednesday they had fired ballistic missiles toward a Saudi oil tanker on the Red Sea off the Saudi port of Yanbu, without providing evidence. There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.
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The shaky ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah grew more volatile Wednesday, as the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning to residents of the southern Lebanese village of Mansouri, the first such warning in weeks. Later, the Israeli military said it had begun conducting "precise strikes" in southern Lebanon in response to what it described as "a blatant violation of the ceasefire" that had largely held since June 20.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, Reuters)
