Iran-backed Houthi rebels say Saudi-led airstrikes have killed 13 people in a busy market in northern Yemen.
Yemeni officials, meanwhile, have appealed for international support to protect civilians in Taiz as the Houthis tightened their siege of the city.
Separately, a police officer guarding the Israeli Embassy in the Serbian capital of Belgrade shot and killed a man who attacked him with a knife. Police said the incident was a “terrorist attack.”
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Wednesday. Read our full coverage here.
Saudi-led airstrikes hit a crowded market in northern Yemen on Wednesday, killing 13 people and wounding 16 others, according to the Houthi-run Health Ministry. Three women were among the wounded, it said, adding that shops and houses nearby were heavily damaged.
The strikes hit a central market near a gas station in al-Hazm, the capital of al-Jawf province, while it was packed with shoppers, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry called the attack a war crime that requires an international investigation. There was no immediate statement from the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.
An Associated Press reporter in the southern city of Aden witnessed explosions that shattered windows at the airport building and nearby homes after Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree urged everyone at the airport to evacuate.
Saree said a Saudi military cargo plane carrying weapons was there without providing evidence.
Yemeni government officials urged the international community to help protect civilians and reopen roads into the city of Taiz as Iran-backed Houthi rebels further tightened their siege of the city.
Taiz province has emerged as a major battlefront in recent weeks, including the city of Taiz — considered a gateway to the country's south. It has taken in around half of Yemen’s population displaced by the latest fighting, straining limited resources.
The Taiz governor, Nabil Shamsan, said residents had lost access to about 3 million liters (about 793,000 gallons) of water previously available from wells in Wadi al-Dhubab, which he said is now under Houthi control. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify that claim.
Eshraq al-Maqtari, a legal affairs minister in Yemen’s internationally recognized government, said more than 2,000 projectiles and explosives fired by the Houthis had struck Taiz city districts in recent days and called for measures to cut off the rebels' weapon supplies and funding.
Shamsan said fighting had intensified across the province as the Houthis deployed reinforcements to multiple fronts, with the city encircled on all four sides.
Two Israeli strikes in southern Gaza on Wednesday killed one person and wounded at least six others, according to health officials at Nasser Hospital.
The first strike killed one man and critically wounded a woman, health officials said. Another strike wounded at least five others. Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
More than 1,550 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by the Israeli military since the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas began in October 2025, according to the territory’s health ministry. The ministry maintains detailed records and is regarded as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.
An assailant armed with knives attacked a police officer guarding the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, just after midnight on Wednesday, police said. The officer, from an elite unit, responded by fatally shooting the attacker.
Serbia’s Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said that police were treating the incident as a “terrorist attack” and had raised the terror threat to the highest level. Police presence at key locations was increased.
He described the attacker as a minor who had two knives. He attacked the member of the Gendarmerie, shouting Allahu Akbar, or “God is great” in Arabic. Dacic added that the police officer, who was slightly wounded in the face, killed the assailant in self-defense.
A meeting between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey in Tehran on Monday provided an opportunity to advance dialogue and regional peace, Iran’s top diplomat said.
In comments posted on social media, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also said the countries should be responsible for their own security without the military presence of “extraregional powers.”
The talks came amid growing speculation about the return to all-out war and as Saudi Arabia continues to face repeated attacks from the Houthis in Yemen.
Araghchi gave no details on the meeting.
Egypt’s top diplomat discussed efforts to contain the crisis in the region in telephone calls with his Saudi and Emirati counterparts against the backdrop of increasing tensions, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said.
Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty discussed political solutions to the ongoing crisis with Saudi Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE, according to the ministry.
Egypt said this month that it will provide Saudi Arabia with military support to defend the kingdom against attacks by Yemen's Houthis. The decision was made by the country’s highest security body, then approved earlier this week by the country’s lawmakers in a closed-door vote.
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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
