Saudi-Houthi strikes continue as Yemen's humanitarian crisis deepens

Yemen's Houthi group said on Monday evening that it had launched a new ballistic missile strike on King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh, while Tehran reiterated its readiness to facilitate dialogue between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement that the group targeted the Riyadh airport with a ballistic missile, claiming the missile "accurately hit" the target.

He said the group also launched a drone attack on King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait, southwestern Saudi Arabia, claiming a direct hit.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition said in a statement that its forces had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile fired toward Riyadh on Monday evening.

Tit-for-tat strikes The latest attacks came amid escalating military exchanges.

Yemeni military spokesperson Majid al-Nuzaili said on Monday that government forces had carried out 1,879 attacks on Houthi military targets, claiming that about 950 Houthi fighters had been "neutralized." The Houthis, meanwhile, said Saudi Arabia had carried out 119 strikes on several Houthi-held areas over the past 24 hours.

The group reported that at least nine people had been killed and seven others injured in strikes on Al-Jawf, a province near the Saudi border.

The Houthis have intensified strikes on the Riyadh airport in recent days.

In response, Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority has extended the closure of Riyadh's international airport until Saturday and airlines scrapped ‌flights after continuing attacks by Houthis emptied the skies over Saudi Arabia's capital.

Li Zixin, a Middle East expert at the China Institute of International Studies, said the Houthis' objectives operate on several levels, with their core aim being to pressure Saudi Arabia to halt airstrikes against Houthi forces in Yemen and lift the blockade.

Li further explained that militarily, the Houthis seek to respond to escalation with escalation by targeting airports and oil facilities to increase economic and psychological pressure on Riyadh, and politically, they aim to consolidate their control in Yemen and enhance their negotiating leverage, while strategically seeking to demonstrate their value to Iran amid US-Iran tensions.

Li noted that the Houthis' decision to refrain from targeting the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina suggests that their targets have been selectively chosen and carefully calculated.

This, he said, reflects both a willingness to escalate and a desire to leave room for maneuver.