Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has appealed to regional states, and indirectly to Israel, for assistance in the kingdom's escalating war against the Houthis. Diplomatic sources say the approach to Jerusalem was routed through CENTCOM and included a request for intelligence and other support, with the goal of preventing the closure of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
The request comes as the Houthis push their missile campaign deeper into Saudi territory. A Houthi projectile damaged a mosque in the Jazan region and wounded two people, Saudi authorities said, and Saudi Civil Defence issued and then lifted a warning for residents of the Khamis Mushait governorate. Coalition spokesman Major-General Turki al-Maliki said earlier in the week that Houthi attacks on civilian and economic sites in Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jizan and Najran had wounded at least 73 people, including women and children. The Houthi military said those strikes answered more than 100 Saudi airstrikes in Yemen over three days, and claimed it had fired dozens of ballistic missiles and drones.
Saudi aircraft have struck across Yemen in return. Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said Saudi forces flew 54 strikes across six provinces in twelve hours, hitting al-Jawf, Marib, Taiz, Hodeidah, Saada and al-Bayda, with aircraft launched from King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait and King Fahd Air Base in Taif. Saudi Arabia also bombed the airport at Mokha after the Houthis seized the Red Sea port city.
The Houthi advance down the coast is what has alarmed Riyadh. Houthi forces took Perim Island in the middle of the Bab al-Mandeb after government troops withdrew, along with Dhubab, the last major government-held town on the western coast, and besieged more than two thousand government soldiers on the Hanish Islands. The fighting resumed in July after Houthi missiles and drones struck Abha international airport, following an attack on Sanaa airport, ending a period of relative calm under the UN-brokered truce. More than 500 people have been killed and tens of thousands displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration and local officials.
