The Ansar Allah Houthi group continues to target Riyadh Airport, and Trump says that the Houthis’ behavior is “bad”

The Ansar Allah Houthi group announced that it targeted King Khalid Airport in Riyadh again on Monday evening, shortly after the Saudi-led coalition forces supporting the Yemeni government announced the interception of a missile that was heading towards the capital. While US President Donald Trump commented, saying, "The Houthis are behaving badly... This is not a good thing."

The military spokesman for the Houthis, Yahya Saree, wrote on the X platform: “Our armed forces were able to target Khalid International Airport in the Saudi enemy’s capital, Riyadh, this evening with a ballistic missile, and the hit was accurate,” as he put it.

Saree also announced that Khamis Mushait Air Base in the south of the Kingdom was targeted by a drone.

On the other hand, the spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen reported, "the interception and destruction of two ballistic missiles launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards Khamis Mushait."

This comes as the authorities extended the closure of Riyadh International Airport until Saturday, and airlines canceled their flights after the ongoing attacks launched by the Houthis led to the airspace of the Saudi capital being devoid of air traffic.

The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation stated in a statement that the suspension of operational operations at King Khalid Airport, the second busiest airport in the Kingdom after Jeddah, comes “to complete the necessary procedures to verify the safety of the airport facilities and their operational readiness.”

A notice to pilots issued on Monday showed that the airport would remain closed until 21:00 GMT on October 17.

The airport has been closed since an attack that occurred on Saturday, which killed 13 people and injured more than 300 others, and was the bloodiest attack in the Kingdom in more than 10 years. Another attack yesterday, Sunday, killed one person and injured more than ten others.

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This comes as international companies, including Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, and Etihad Airways, extended the suspension of their flights to the Kingdom, while the US Embassy expanded its security measures to include all Saudi airports, and the US Federal Aviation Administration warned airlines of potential security risks in Saudi airspace, against the backdrop of military activities and interference with navigation systems.

Data from the Flight Radar 24 website, which tracks air traffic, showed that planes were avoiding the city of Riyadh on Monday, but the flights passed through Saudi airspace and landed at Jeddah Airport on the western coast of the Kingdom.

Cirium, a company specialized in analyzing aviation-related data, reported that the rate of flight cancellations at all Saudi airports reached 46.4 percent.

This came as the Washington Embassy in Riyadh announced that American government employees have now been required to obtain a special permit to use any airport in Saudi Arabia.

The German Economy Minister was suspended in Riyadh following the attack on the airport. A government spokesman stated, "Multiple options are being considered for her return to Germany."

After the Saudi-led coalition announced the interception of a Houthi missile towards Riyadh, the start of the Saudi Al-Nassr match, which includes Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo in its ranks, against its Uzbekistani guest Neftchi Ferghana, in the AFC Champions League elite football competitions, was delayed by an hour, on Monday evening.

Houthi threatened to Washington

Meanwhile, a member of the Ansar Allah movement's political bureau, Muhammad Al-Bukhaiti, threatened the United States with a "swift and painful response" if it intervened in the conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, which supports the recognized Yemeni government, warning of a "comprehensive escalation."

Agence France-Presse quoted the Houthi official as saying, "If America is involved in the aggression against Yemen, we will not study the decision to respond. There will be a quick and painful response that targets America and all its interests in the region wherever our hands reach them."

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he would decide "quickly" whether the United States would join Saudi Arabia in striking the Houthis, following the attack on Riyadh airport.

Meanwhile, Iran confirmed its readiness to “facilitate dialogue between the parties” to the conflict.

In light of the Houthis intensifying their strikes on the Kingdom, Al-Bukhaiti warned "all employees or workers in Saudi oil facilities or in all airports not to approach those facilities because they have become a legitimate target for Yemen, especially since things are heading in the direction of comprehensive escalation."

On the other hand, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said that the events that occurred in the past few weeks were severe, and that the Kingdom’s response must be equally severe.

In his speech during the opening of the World Petroleum Conference in Riyadh, Prince Abdulaziz, son of King Salman, explained that global energy is facing a “real test,” pointing out that Saudi Arabia has drawn up plans to maintain energy security before crises occur.

Adding: “There cannot be an energy future for all unless energy security is achieved for all.”

In the markets, oil prices rose on Monday, driven by the Houthi attacks, with the price of a barrel of Brent North Sea crude reaching $105.60, an increase of 0.8 percent, around 10:45 GMT, while the price of West Texas Intermediate crude reached $92.69, an increase of 0.9 percent.

In this context, the CEO of Total Energy stated that the SATORP refinery in Saudi Arabia, which the French group jointly owns with Aramco, and which was damaged by drone attacks in April, has been operating at full capacity since “early October.”

Moments to watch

On Monday, the Houthis announced the implementation of four "specific" operations using a number of "ballistic and winged missiles and drones, targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh in three stages since the evening of yesterday, which led to the disruption of navigation traffic at the airport and its complete closure."

The statement indicated that operations were carried out targeting Aramco's Shedqum gas station in the Eastern Province, and a factory belonging to the company in the Eastern Province as well, in addition to King Fahd Airport in Dammam.

On Monday evening, the Houthis said that Saudi aircraft carried out 119 air strikes and missile strikes on Yemen within 24 hours, targeting various locations in the country, including the capital, Sanaa, which is under their control.

Nine people were killed, including two children and a woman, in Al-Jawf Governorate, northeast of Sanaa, and a boy was killed in Saada Governorate, bordering Saudi Arabia, in raids that the Houthis attributed to Saudi Arabia, according to what was reported by the group’s Al Masirah channel on Monday.

The Houthis were able to close all exits to Taiz in southwestern Yemen, according to what Agence France-Presse reported, citing military sources in the Houthis and government forces.

The sources indicated that more than 60 people were killed on both sides within 24 hours.

Ankara: We will send the Mecca Agreement to Parliament within days

In this context, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara will send the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to Parliament for ratification in the coming days.

Erdogan added, in comments he made after the Cabinet meeting, that Türkiye strongly condemns the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, and “stands with the brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia in confronting these attacks.”

On the other hand, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said before parliamentarians that Britain would consider any requests from Saudi Arabia for more support.

Last month, Britain agreed to a request from Saudi Arabia to provide defensive air refueling capabilities for a limited period of time.

Americans detained in Saudi Arabia to film the events of the attacks

On a separate level, the US Embassy in Riyadh reported on Monday that American citizens were detained in Saudi Arabia on the grounds of taking pictures of events related to the Houthi attacks on the Kingdom, without providing details about their number or if they are still detained.

In a statement, the embassy referred to the Saudi Ministry of Interior’s warnings that “filming, publishing, or sharing information related to missiles, anti-drones, and their landing sites exposes to legal accountability.”

Agence France-Presse quoted foreign residents as saying that similar arrests had been carried out against people they knew who had taken pictures or video clips and posted them on social media sites.

An Emirati call to enhance defense cooperation

Meanwhile, Emirati Presidential Advisor Anwar Gargash called on Monday for the Arab Gulf states to strengthen their collective security system, after Saudi Arabia was subjected to continuous attacks.

Gargash wrote on the X platform: “Since the start of the aggression against the Arab Gulf states, based on the wrong assessment of the aggressor that it is the weakest link in a war that we sought to avoid, it has become clear that we are all being targeted, and that our security is indivisible. Targeting the sister Kingdom of Saudi Arabia undermines the security of the Emirates and all Gulf states.”

“Continuing fighting will only lead to more suffering.”

Volker Türk said in a statement: “I am deeply dismayed by the repeated attacks launched by the Houthis over the past few days on airports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which resulted in the death and injury of dozens of Saudis and foreign nationals, especially the horrific attack that took place yesterday on the main airport in Riyadh.”

He added that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international humanitarian law, and must be investigated and those responsible held accountable.

The war has been renewed in Yemen, where a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia supports the internationally recognized government against the Houthis, months after the war in the Middle East began with American-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic.

Before the renewed war, Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the world, was already suffering from a massive humanitarian crisis.