A Bloomberg report stated that the Royal Air Force's Typhoon fighter planes will help defend Saudi cities and infrastructure against air attacks launched by the Iran-allied Houthis, and Britain will also provide an Atlas A400M transport plane and military advisors.
The British Ministry of Defense has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Saudi Arabia announces the destruction of a ballistic missile towards Riyadh
Today, Tuesday, the Saudi Air Defense destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthi group in Yemen towards Riyadh. Today, the Saudi News Agency (SPA) quoted the official spokesman for the coalition forces, the “Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen,” Major General Turki Al-Maliki, as saying that “a ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards Riyadh was intercepted and destroyed.” The Saudi Civil Defense announced “the elimination of the hostile air threat to the capital, Riyadh,” calling, in a message via mobile phones today, on everyone to avoid the sites where the projectile fell or to pick up any object from the site of the event.
Over the past few days, the Houthi group in Yemen has continued its escalatory attacks and targeting of Saudi Arabia, including the capital, Riyadh, and especially King Khalid Airport.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced late Monday evening (October 19, 2026), via social media, that he is in the Middle East to visit US forces participating in a “historic mission,” the nature of which he did not specify. The American minister said that he visited members of the American armed forces in the Central Command area of responsibility, which covers the Middle East, northeastern Africa, and parts of Asia.
The announcement came hours after Axios reported that Hegseth was in Israel on an unannounced visit to the Hebrew state during which he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israeli Army Radio reported that Hegseth's meeting with Netanyahu was held at an air base in the desert in southern Israel.
The Axios news website linked Hegseth's visit to speculation about a possible new escalation of the conflict with Iran.
The US Department of Defense declined to comment on the visit and related reports. The Israeli Embassy in Washington has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Hegseth's visit comes amid escalating tensions in the Middle East war, as tensions rise between the United States and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, and at a time when the Yemeni Houthis allied with Tehran intensify their attacks on Saudi Arabia.
News of Hegseth's trip comes a day after US President Donald Trump announced his support for Netanyahu in the Knesset elections scheduled to be held next week in Israel.
Opinion polls indicate that the national religious coalition led by Netanyahu is expected to lose its ruling majority, but the opposition may also face difficulty in forming a government.
US Vice President J.D. Vance declined to support Netanyahu in an interview earlier on Monday, saying that he does not interfere in the Israeli elections. Vance, who traveled to Budapest and endorsed Viktor Orban in the Hungarian elections earlier this year, added in an interview with the 2Y digital platform: “I support American candidates, and that's what I'm focused on, the midterm elections.” Vance continued: “I am not against supporting him, but I am not in favor of him either. I will not interfere in the Israeli elections.”
The Future Investment Initiative Forum, known as “Davos in the Desert,” which was scheduled to be held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, at the end of this month, has been postponed, according to what its CEO announced, while the Kingdom is being attacked by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
Maha Al Saud, CEO of the Future Investment Initiative, said in a statement published on the
The Saudi Future Investment Initiative Foundation organizes the forum annually, and this year's edition was scheduled to be held in Riyadh from October 26 to 29. For nearly a decade, this platform has been the face of the Kingdom's efforts to attract global investors, business leaders, and heads of state.
About half of the flights were canceled at Saudi airports
Saudi Arabia suspended operations at Riyadh International Airport after the Houthis attacked it earlier this month. The authorities did not announce a clear timetable for the resumption of air navigation.
The Houthis issued warnings to airlines against flying in Saudi airspace. Data issued by Cirium, a company specializing in aviation analytics, showed that more than 45 percent of flights departing from Saudi airports have been canceled since October 8.
Informing employees to work remotely
Saudi government bodies have informed the employees of their administrative offices in Riyadh to work remotely and to refrain from coming to their offices, starting from Monday until at least the end of the week, according to what three sources, namely an employee and two female consultants contracted with two government agencies, told Agence France-Presse.
Houthis: Carrying out new attacks on Saudi Arabia
Today, Monday, the Houthi group in Yemen announced the implementation of six military operations targeting sites and facilities inside Saudi Arabia, using ballistic and winged missiles and drones, during the past 48 hours.
Yahya Saree, the Houthis' military spokesman, said in a statement that the operations "came in response to the Saudi aggression."
He added, "More than 200 air strikes and missile attacks targeted civilian sites in Sanaa and other Yemeni governorates during the same period, resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries, most of them women and children." He explained that the total number of Saudi air strikes and missile attacks since the start of the escalation exceeded 2,700 raids.
The Saudi-led coalition has not yet issued any comment regarding the attacks announced by the Houthis.
The local authority in Shabwa Governorate in central Yemen announced in a statement that "more than 53 recruits were killed and more than 200 others were injured among the new recruits in the Internal Security in Shabwa Governorate, while they were receiving security training and qualification."
The governorate authorities said that the Houthi rebels fired three ballistic missiles at the Al-Alam military camp in the southern governorate.
Governorate Undersecretary Fahd Al-Khulaifi told Agence France-Presse that there were dozens of wounded in critical condition. Al-Khulaifi added, "The seriously injured were transferred to hospitals in Hadramaut and Aden, after Shabwa's hospitals were filled with the wounded, who flocked to them in large numbers following the attack."
A government military source in Shabwa expressed the fears of the Yemeni forces that "these missile attacks launched by the Houthis on Shabwa will pave the way for a ground attack, similar to what happened in Mokha."
The statement said: “This bloody, treacherous attack targeted new recruits in the training and preparation stage, and is considered an extremely dangerous military escalation and a blatant aggression against the security and stability of Shabwa Governorate.”
One military official said that the targets were part of a newly formed force called “Rapid Intervention,” whose mission was to defend the region. The official added that the missile attack occurred while the recruits were lining up in formation for a training session.
The military spokesman for the Houthis, Yahya Saree, announced that his group's forces were responsible for the operation. He said that it targeted "the Saudi enemy's concentrations in Camp Al-Alam, which is run by Saudi officers in the eastern regions" of Yemen.
