Tension between Houthis and Saudi Arabia, attacks in Sana'a and Riyadh; Israeli raid in Gaza kills five Palestinians

Tension between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia reignites. Yemen's rebels accused the kingdom of launching dozens of attacks on Sana'a, while flames and smoke were seen rising from an Aramco oil facility on the outskirts of Riyadh. At the moment there has been no official statement but in recent weeks the Iranian-backed group has launched several attacks against the Kingdom's energy infrastructure. New violence also in Gaza City where at least five Palestinians, including four women, were killed and other people were seriously injured in the early hours of the morning in an Israeli air raid on an apartment building.

The IDF says the target was Hamas's de facto leader in Gaza Ali al-Amoudi but it is unclear whether he was hit.

After the attack, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, expressed his pain and condolences to the Christian community in Gaza and to the families of two of the victims. Meanwhile, a secret meeting was held at Camp David on the conflicts in Yemen and Iran between American Vice President Jd Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the head of the Pentagon Pete Hegseth, the director of the CIA, the chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff. The American president is absent, busy on an electoral tour in view of the midterms.

According to the Al-Masirah broadcaster, close to the Houthis, "Saudi enemy planes" hit Sana'a with 26 raids.

A "Saudi aggression" against the Yemeni capital, the network added, without however providing details on targets or victims. Two reporters in Sana'a reported hearing loud explosions and seeing warplanes launch missiles into the city. Also in the same hours, Al-Masirah spoke of missile attacks against the telecommunications network in the governorate of Saada, in the north-west of Yemen, one of the group's strongholds. The episode follows the rebels' announcement that Saudi Arabia would bomb the Yemeni capital on Thursday night, for the first time since fighting between the two sides resumed in July. Shortly after the news broke, journalists in Riyadh reported having spotted flames and smoke coming from a plant of the state oil giant Aramco, south of the capital. The circumstances of the incident are not yet clear, but in recent months the Houthis have claimed responsibility for several attacks against the Saudi giant's plants.

On the other side of the Ocean, while Trump continues to maintain that "the war against Iran will end after the midterm elections" the main members of his administration in the Camp David presidential residence to discuss the next steps relating to the conflict against Tehran and the clashes between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in Yemen. According to what three informed sources told Axios, Vance, Rubio, Hegseth, Witkoff, CIA director John Ratcliffe and the chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, have "made some decisions, or at least the issue has been discussed in depth".

The last time such a meeting was held was in June 2025, just days before Israel went to war with Iran. Trump has been considering the resumption of large-scale operations for days amid threats to "blow up" the country and assurances that "an agreement is close." Tehran "will never have a nuclear weapon", the tycoon reiterated during a rally in Alabama, who at the moment is mostly worried about the effects of the war on the next elections.

"We had to do the dirty work against the bullies of the Middle East. It should have been done years ago, even by other nations", added the president, assuring his supporters that petrol prices will fall "as soon as" the conflict ends.