Houthi Attacks Damage Two Saudi Airports, Wounding Three, as Red Sea Escalation Widens

Houthi attacks damaged two airports in southern Saudi Arabia, wounding three people, the kingdom said Tuesday — the latest escalation in a widening confrontation that is squeezing regional oil supplies and has now put international airlines on notice.

Two airports hit in the kingdom's south

Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Airport — a dual-use airport in the Red Sea city of Jazan — and Najran International Airport were damaged in strikes on Monday evening. "The attacks resulted in three minor injuries and material damage," the authority said. The Houthis said late Monday their forces had targeted sites across southern Saudi Arabia, including airports and military installations, with missiles and drones.

The Houthis also claimed wider strikes — including on King Khalid International Airport near Riyadh and an Aramco refinery in Rabigh — that Saudi authorities have not confirmed and that could not be independently verified. TickerGrove is not asserting those claims as fact.

Airlines put on notice over Saudi airspace

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree warned "all international airlines using Saudi airspace" to halt their flights, except those over the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina, describing Saudi airspace as "a theatre of our military operations." The European Union Aviation Safety Agency separately warned airlines that "recurrent missile and drone attacks, together with the activation of air-defense systems, create an increased risk of misidentification of civil aircraft." The Houthis have previously hit aircraft on the ground in their attacks, but have not shot down a commercial airliner in flight.

The coalition strikes back inside Yemen

The Saudi-led coalition said Tuesday it had destroyed a ballistic-missile launch platform in Sana'a and a storage facility at a mountain site in Saada containing 20 ballistic missiles, according to the Saudi Press Agency. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said a Houthi missile targeting an area north of Riyadh was intercepted and destroyed; the coalition also said it intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile fired toward Khamis Mushait in the kingdom's southwest. Early Wednesday, authorities in Aden — where Yemen's internationally recognized government is based — said two Houthi missiles struck Aden International Airport, describing a strike on "a vital civilian facility" that put passengers, airport workers and flight crews at risk, though no one was wounded.

Brent climbs back above $101

December Brent crude futures rose 1% to $101.54 a barrel Wednesday, while December West Texas Intermediate futures gained 1% to $89.31, as traders weighed the fresh attacks against recovering Middle East crude supplies. Shipping risks around the Strait of Hormuz remain elevated: an attack Tuesday wounded 12 mariners aboard the Panama-flagged tanker MT On Peace, including 11 Indian nationals, India's foreign ministry said. Outside the Middle East, a developing Gulf storm added to supply pressure: U.S. regulators said 185,120 barrels a day of offshore crude production — 9.2% of Gulf output — had been shut in as of Tuesday morning. Gulf stock markets were subdued in early trade Wednesday, with Saudi Arabia's benchmark index slipping 0.2%.

A confrontation widening on two fronts

The airport strikes came as Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces pressed a major offensive to retake territory from the Houthis after weeks of rebel advances, with Riyadh stepping up airstrikes in support of the campaign. The fighting is now pressuring energy markets on two fronts at once: the Red Sea shipping lane and the kingdom's own airspace. The open questions: whether the Houthi airline warning disrupts commercial schedules over the kingdom, whether the coalition's retaliatory strikes inside Yemen draw a further Houthi response, and how oil markets price the combined Hormuz and Gulf-storm supply risk through the week.