The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen accused government forces of killing two people in a strike at a gas station near the besieged city of Taiz, where fighting has been intensifying between the two sides.
For weeks, the Houthis had largely encircled Taiz — the capital of Taiz province and Yemen's third-largest city — and cut off most supply routes
from government-held areas, but government forces had fought back.The New York-based Human Rights Watch
said in a report released Monday that a recent Houthi attack, which severely damaged a road leading to the city of Taiz, may have been a violation of international law.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Tuesday. Read our full coverage here.
The Houthi-run Health Ministry blamed the Saudi-backed government forces for the strike late Monday, and said that along with the two killed, several people were wounded.
Ministry spokesperson Anees al-Asbahi accused government forces of targeting the gas station late Monday. The Yemeni military had said in a post on X that its forces had launched airstrikes targeting Houthi positions in Taiz.
Houthi-controlled Al-Masirah TV aired footage showing two body bags and the wounded receiving treatment at a hospital.
The TV station also reported that the government launched airstrikes on Tuesday on the Houthi-controlled port city of Mokha and the Dhubab district near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the station's claim.
An eyewitness in Mokha told the AP over the phone that she heard two explosions at around 4 a.m., one near the port and the other farther away. She spoke on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals by the Houthis.
Meanwhile, Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Brig. Gen. Turki al-Malki posted on X overnight that coalition forces had intercepted four Houthi drones targeting the kingdom’s south and three ballistic missiles aimed at its eastern region.
He didn't provide further details or evidence. The AP could not verify the claim.
— By Fatma Khaled in Cairo
Human Rights Watch said in a report Monday that the Houthis used explosives to severely damage a road leading into the city of Taiz in an attack on Oct. 18, worsening an already dire humanitarian situation there.
The rights group said the Hayjat al-Abd road is a critical entry point for food, fuel and medicine.
It warned that the attack damaged “infrastructure indispensable to civilian survival.”
A Houthi official said Tuesday that the Egyptian parliament's decision to support Saudi Arabia in the conflict with the Iran-backed rebels could draw the Arab world's most populous nation into what he called an “aggression” against Yemen.
Houthi political bureau member Mohammed al-Bukhaiti told the AP in a video interview that the Egyptian support would be considered as a “hostile action” since the kingdom is allegedly the aggressor in Yemen.
Egyptian lawmakers approved the measure requested by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in a closed session on Monday as concerns grow among ordinary Egyptians that their country of over 100 million people could be drawn into the conflict in Yemen.
Egypt’s highest security body had earlier pledged to provide “all necessary and possible forms of support” to Saudi Arabia to defend its “security and stability,” protect its resources and territorial integrity, and safeguard Islamic holy sites.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty appealed on Tuesday for everyone to help de-escalate the situation in the region and mount a collective effort toward that goal.
He made the appeal in a call to his Iranian counterpart, a day after top officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met Iranian officials in Tehran.
On Monday, Abdelatty told a news conference that Cairo is in close contact with both Washington and Tehran in pursuit of peace.
“We have learned from the past that a military solution is not a solution,” he said. “The whole world is being impacted.”
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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
