Saudi airstrikes hit northern Yemen as GCC pledges defence support against Houthi attacks

A Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a residential home in Yemen's northern Saada governorate killed at least nine people and wounded 16 others on Sunday, according to Houthi official media, as hostilities across the country and the wider Gulf region sharply escalated.

The Iranian-backed Houthi movement's Saba news agency reported that most of those killed and injured in the Saada strike were women and children, warning that the death toll was not final. The strike comes as the Gulf Cooperation Council pledged unanimous support for Saudi Arabia, following weeks of sustained Houthi drone and missile attacks directed at Saudi cities, civilian airports, and oil infrastructure.

Regional allies rally around Riyadh

Meeting in Manama, foreign ministers from the six GCC member states invoked their joint defence agreement, declaring that an attack on Saudi Arabia constitutes an attack on all member nations. GCC Secretary-General Jassim Al-Badioui stated that repeated Houthi strikes on civilian targets cannot be ignored and called for tighter international enforcement of the United Nations arms embargo against the rebel movement. The GCC also postponed a Gulf-European Summit scheduled for 24 October in Riyadh due to ongoing attacks.

The regional fallout has extended to Cairo, where Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi requested formal authorization from the House of Representatives under Article 152 of the Egyptian Constitution to deploy armed forces on defensive combat missions outside Egyptian borders if Saudi Arabia requests military support. Egyptian parliamentary leaders confirmed an urgent session would consider measures to protect Saudi sovereignty.

Escalation across Yemen's frontlines

The renewed civil war, which reignited in July and intensified after Houthi forces captured key stretches of Yemen's Red Sea coast last month, saw fresh clashes on multiple fronts on Sunday. Saudi air defences intercepted two Houthi drones near Riyadh and another over the Eastern Province. Coalition military officials stated a Saudi reconnaissance helicopter crashed in the border region of Najran due to a technical failure, though Houthi forces claimed to have shot the aircraft down.

Humanitarian crisis deepens in Taiz

The surge in fighting has created an urgent humanitarian emergency across central Yemen. According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 233,000 civilians have been displaced since the July escalation, with over 121,000 in Taiz governorate alone.

Houthi blockades around Taiz have severely restricted the delivery of food, water, and fuel, causing food prices to rise fivefold. The World Health Organization warned that all 12 operational hospitals in Taiz face imminent shutdown, holding fuel reserves sufficient for only four days as the city struggles with a cholera outbreak and critical shortages of surgical supplies.