Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani held a phone call on 14 October to stress the need to stop all hostilities against Saudi Arabia. Five Saudi airports have been attacked since 5 October, resulting in 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
Military escalation between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthi group began in July 2026. Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition supporting Yemen's internationally recognised government since 2015.
The Saudi-led coalition and the internationally recognised Yemeni government launched a military campaign to push Houthi forces away from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Rashad al-Alimi, Chairman of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, stated the Dawn of Yemen operation aims to restore state institutions from Houthi control and retake Sanaa.
The Houthi movement claimed to launch a ballistic missile towards King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on 8 October, but the Saudi-led coalition intercepted and destroyed three missiles, including two heading towards Riyadh and one directed towards Khamis Mushait. An attack at Riyadh’s airport on Saturday left 13 people dead and operations suspended.
Houthis claimed Saudi Arabia struck an oil facility in Sanaa on 12 October, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to issue an evacuation order for the Al-Sahaba oil facility near Sanaa on 13 October. Military spokesman Yahya Saree threatened to target Riyadh’s international airport, a refinery, and an Aramco facility in Dammam if the strike went ahead.
Mohammed Al Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi political bureau, stated they would target American interests in the region if the US intervened. US President Donald Trump stated he was considering joining Saudi strikes against the Houthis.
The International Monetary Fund reported on 13 October that Saudi Arabia's GDP is expected to shrink 3.3 per cent this year. The World Health Organisation reported on 13 October that suspected cholera cases in Yemen tripled there in three weeks.
