Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday condemned the previous day’s deadly Houthi terrorist attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“On behalf of the people of Israel, I extend our deepest condolences to the families of those murdered and our wishes for a full recovery to the injured,” Netanyahu said. He called for a Middle East that “stands united against threats, protects its people, and builds a future of security, cooperation, and prosperity for all the peoples of our region.”
At least 13 people were killed and more than 300 wounded in Saturday’s attack on the airport, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade, Reuters reported.
Saudi authorities initially identified 12 of the dead as four Saudis, two Bangladeshis and one person each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian territories, Sudan and Syria. India’s embassy in Riyadh said Sunday that an Indian national wounded in the attack had died, raising the death toll to 13.
The Iranian-backed terrorist army in Yemen on Sunday claimed responsibility for Saturday’s strike.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group also struck the airport in Dammam, in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, and two facilities belonging to oil giant Saudi Aramco.
Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority confirmed the attack on Dammam’s King Fahd International Airport late Sunday, saying damage assessments and safety inspections were underway.
Saudi authorities also reported a separate attack on King Khalid International Airport’s Terminal 4 on Sunday. One person was killed and 11 wounded in the new attack, Saudi authorities said. It was the fourth attack on the airport in a week, according to Reuters. The first two killed four people, and one heavily damaged a parked Saudi commercial plane.
The Saudi-led coalition said its air defenses intercepted a cruise missile near King Khalid International Airport, destroyed a drone over the country’s Eastern Province and intercepted a ballistic missile headed toward Khamis Mushait, Reuters reported. Saudi Civil Defense said emergency alerts were issued early Monday in the southern city of Abha, but the danger had passed.
The U.S. State Department urged Americans to exercise extreme caution at major airports in Saudi Arabia following the additional attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and the targeted attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam on Sunday.
U.S. government employees in Saudi Arabia must obtain special authorization to use airports in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, the department said.
The department warned of possible flight cancellations, airspace closures and other travel disruptions, urging Americans to check flight status directly with airlines and airports and consider traveling by car, train or bus.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister spoke with his Iranian counterpart on Sunday about the escalating regional conflict and efforts to ease tensions, Reuters reported, citing the Saudi state news agency. It was their first publicly reported contact since Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis intensified attacks on the kingdom. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was ready to help facilitate dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, according to a post on his Telegram account.
The Houthis have warned of further attacks on Saudi targets.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday night condemned the Houthi missile attack earlier in the day on Saudi Arabia’s international airport in Riyadh, saying that “numerous innocent lives” were claimed, including that of an American citizen.
The Iranian proxy group’s “reprehensible attacks demonstrate a blatant disregard for innocent civilian life. They must stop now,” Rubio stated, extending America’s condolences to the victims and their families.
U.S. President Donald Trump was asked by reporters in the wake of Saturday’s attack if American forces will join Saudi strikes on the Houthis.
“We may. We’re going to look at it. We just found out about the recent attack, so we’ll make a decision. We move very quickly,” Trump said.
The military confrontation between the Saudis and the Iranian-backed jihadist organization escalated after the latter took control over a long territorial stretch along the Red Sea coast in Yemen, including several islands in the strategic choke point of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, last month.
The civil war in Yemen has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people since 2014.
The Saudis entered the war the following year at the request of the U.N.-recognized Yemeni government, joined by forces from eight other countries from West Asia and North Africa in an attempt to repel the Houthi rebels.
A fragile ceasefire signed in 2022 began to unravel in July, with the Houthis firing missiles at Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.
