The Latest: Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claim responsibility for missile attack on Israel

The attack came after Saree signaled in a vague statement Friday that the rebels would join the war.

It is the first time Israel has faced fire from Yemen since the start of the conflict last month. Houthi attacks on vessels during the Israel-Hamas war upended shipping in the Red Sea.

Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will attend talks in Islamabad on Sunday aimed at ending the war, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said.

Here is the latest:

11 injured in missile attack in central Israel

Israel’s rescue service Magen David Adom now says 11 people were lightly wounded in the attack in Eshtaol, near Jerusalem. Some were injured from the impact of the explosion and others hurt while running to shelters.

Among the wounded were a 75-year-old man whose roof collapsed and a 47-year-old whose doorway was blown off, medics said.

Ukraine wants to build long-term ties with Middle Eastern countries, Zelenskyy says

That includes joint production, cooperation in the energy sector, investment and sharing battlefield experience, Ukraine’s president said. He spoke with journalists via Zoom during an official visit in Qatar, the latest in his tour in the region.

“Simple sales do not interest us,” Zelenskyy said. “We want systemic relationships, where exporters earn revenue and Ukraine receives sufficient funds to invest in domestic production.”

Zelenskyy said Kyiv has already signed a security-related 10-year agreement with Saudi Arabia and a 10-year deal with Qatar, with a similar agreement with the United Arab Emirates expected in the coming days.

Houthis could increase barriers to shipping, experts warn

Experts warn that the Iran-backed Houthis have the potential to create a disastrous economic shock around the world.

If the Houthis ramp up their role in this conflict by targeting vessels in the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait off the Red Sea, it would not only further push up oil prices but destabilize “all of maritime security,” said Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group, a research institution. “The impact would not be limited to the energy market.”

As Iran strangles the Strait of Hormuz, countries have scrambled for alternative routes. Bab el-Mandeb, at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is particularly crucial as it controls traffic for vessels heading to the Suez Canal through the Red Sea. To get around the Strait of Hormuz closure, Saudi Arabia is sending millions of barrels of crude oil a day through the chokepoint.

About 12% of the world’s trade typically passes through that waterway, including oil, natural gas, grain and everything from toys to electronics.

Israeli military reports injuries to soldiers in southern Lebanon

The military said nine soldiers were injured in two different attacks in southern Lebanon.

Two officers were severely injured, the military said in a statement, adding that they occurred during anti-tank missile fire and a rocket launched toward Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.

The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the total number of soldiers wounded since the war began.

Iran claims it struck Ukraine-related drone warehouse in Dubai

Iran’s military joint command made the claim in a statement run by state media, without offering evidence.

The Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters said over 20 Ukrainians were in the warehouse in the United Arab Emirates and their fate was unknown.

In a news briefing, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi, however, called the Iranian allegations a “lie,” according to Ukraine’s public broadcaster.

The claim came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in the Gulf region for talks with leaders of Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar.

Houthis pose risk to second global trade route

The Houthis have so far refrained from attacking shipping routes in the Red Sea, a move -- which if it happened -- would further disrupt the shipping industry and the global economy.

Any Houthi attacks on shipping routes in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait would disrupt traffic through the Suez Canal, a crucial waterway for vessels bearing oil, gas and sundry goods to the Mediterranean Sea.

About 10% of global maritime trade – including 40% of container ship traffic – chugs through the canal each year.

Any disruption would mean vessels having to reroute around the southern tip of Africa, adding to insurance costs and delays in cargo deliveries. It would also potentially disrupt Saudi oil export to Asia through the Saudi Yanbu pot on the Red Sea.

Houthi rebels attacked over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels, between November 2023 and January 2025.

Israel says it targeted a journalist killed in Lebanon

One of two journalists killed in a strike on southern Lebanon on Saturday was targeted for being a suspected Hezbollah intelligence operative, the Israeli military said, without providing evidence.

Israel’s statement about Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV correspondent Ali Shoeib mirrored past Israeli military allegations against Palestinian journalists targeted during the war on Hamas.

The Israeli army claimed that Shoeib, a prominent Lebanese war correspondent, was “operating systematically to expose the locations of (Israeli) soldiers operating in southern Lebanon.” The army also accused him of maintaining contact with Hezbollah militants and inciting against Israeli troops and civilians, without elaborating.

Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV said its reporter Fatima Ftouni was killed in the same airstrike, along with Shoeib. The Israeli military did not mention her in its statement.

Al-Manar TV did not respond to the Israeli allegations, but reported on his killing in an airstrike and describing him as “distinguished by his professional and credible reporting of events.”

Seven injured in missile attack on town in central Israel

Seven people have been hurt in an Iranian missile attack on a town in central Israel, Israel’s rescue service Magen David Adom said Saturday.

Some people were wounded as a result of the impact of the explosion in Eshtaol, near Jerusalem, while others were hurt running to shelters.

Iran is skeptical about diplomatic efforts to stop the war - Araghchi

Iran is skeptical about recent diplomatic efforts to stop the war in the Middle East, its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his Turkish counterpart in a phone call Saturday.

According to a readout of the call on Iranian state-run media, Araghchi accused the U.S. of making “unreasonable demands” and exhibiting “contradictory actions” that raised doubts about the prospect of an agreement.

Recent U.S. moves, he said, have been “increased pessimism” on the Iranian side, without specifying which actions.

The Iranian readout said Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan assured Araghchi that “Iran’s pessimism toward the other side is understandable because Iran has twice been subjected to attack and military aggression in the midst of negotiations.”

UAE reports dozens of attacks, 6 injured

The United Arab Emirates said its air defense systems responded to 20 ballistic missile and 37 drone attacks on Saturday.

The attacks wounded six people in an industrial zone in the capital, Abu Dhabi, where three fires were reported, authorities said.

The UAE’s Defense Ministry has reported 413 missile and 1,872 drone attacks since the start of the war. The attacks have killed 10 people, including two troops, and wounded 178 others, the ministry said.

Two journalists killed in Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon

Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV said that its correspondent Ali Shoeib was killed Saturday in southern Lebanon, while Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV said its reporter Fatima Ftouni was killed in the same airstrike.

Shoeib was well-known war correspondent in the country where he had covered south Lebanon for Al-Manar for nearly three decades.

Ftouni had made a live report from southern Lebanon just before the strike in Jezzine region.

The strike came days after an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut killed Mohammed Sherri, the head of political programs at Al-Manar TV, along with his wife.

US aircraft carrier Ford in Croatia for repairs

A U.S. aircraft carrier has anchored in Croatia on its route from the Middle East amid the U.S. and Israeli monthlong war against Iran.

The U.S. 6th Fleet said the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, anchored in the Port of Split in Croatia following its Adriatic Sea transit from Souda Bay, in Greece, where it conducted repairs and refueled.

The carrier docked last month at the American naval base at Souda Bay, stirring up protests on Crete ahead of the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that triggered the war.

Two ports in Kuwait damaged in attacks - ministry

Kuwait’s ports of Mubarak Al Kabeer and Shuwaikh have been damaged in drone and missile attacks in the past 24 hours, the Defense Ministry said Saturday.

The ministry said forces responded to four ballistic missiles, one cruise missile, and seven drones attacked the oil-rich county in the past 24 hours.

No casualties were reported, it said.

Zelenskyy visits the UAE for talks on ‘security situation’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has visited the UAE and met with his Emirati counterpart, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to discuss regional security in the Middle East.

“For Ukraine, this is also a matter of principle: terror must not prevail anywhere in the world. Protection must be sufficient everywhere,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X following his meeting with the Emirati leader. He said they had discussed “the security situation in the Emirates, Iranian strikes, and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which directly affects the global oil market.”

The Emirates News Agency said the two leaders discussed “security developments in the region amid ongoing military escalation and their implications for regional and international peace and security, as well as their impact on international navigation and the global economy.”

Zelenskyy said last week that Kyiv is helping five countries in the Middle East and Gulf region — the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan — to counter drone attacks on their territory.

Pakistan’s PM briefs Iranian president on diplomatic push to end war

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday he has held “extensive discussions” with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on the ongoing regional hostilities and efforts aimed at end war.

Pezeshkian was briefed on Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts made by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir to engage the United States as well as Gulf and other Islamic countries to help create conditions conducive to peace talks, Sharif’s office said in a statement.

Sharif expressed hope that “a viable path toward ending hostilities could be found collectively” during the conversation that lasted more than an hour.

Pezeshkian praised Pakistan’s peace efforts, stressing the need to build trust to facilitate dialogue and mediation., according to the statement.

Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will attend talks in Islamabad on Sunday aimed at ending the war, Dar has said.

Bahrain reports more than 40 air attacks in 24 hours

Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. 5th Fleet, said Saturday its air defense systems have responded to 20 missile and 23 drone attacks in the past 24 hours.

That brings the total number of projectiles fired at the Shiite majority country to 174 missiles and 385 drones since the start of the war in the Middle East on Feb. 28.

Germany’s Merz criticizes Trump’s approach to Iran war

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has sharply criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for his course of action in the Iran conflict, the dpa news agency reported.

“What Trump is doing right now is not de-escalation and an attempt to reach a peaceful solution, but a massive escalation with an uncertain outcome,” Merz said late Friday at an event in Frankfurt.

“These are escalations that are threatening,” he added. “Not only for those directly affected, but for all of us.”

Merz also expressed doubt that the current leadership in Iran can be overthrown by the war. “Is regime change really the goal?” he asked. “If that is the goal, I don’t think they will achieve it. That has usually gone wrong.”

Iran reports airstrike near Bushehr nuclear plant

An airstrike hit the grounds of Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant just before midnight, the country’s atomic energy agency reported.

The strike, which was the third in 10 days, did not cause any material damage and there were no casualties, according to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. It said no technical disruption was reported at the site.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was notified of the strike by Iran.

Airstrike damages university buildings in Tehran

An airstrike hit Iran’s University of Science and Technology in Tehran on Saturday, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

The strike damaged research and educational buildings, IRNA reported, citing the university’s public relations office.

Pakistan to host talks in push to end war

Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will attend talks in Islamabad aimed at ending the war between the United States and Iran and easing regional tensions, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and officials said Saturday.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty will arrive Sunday for a two-day visit to “hold in-depth discussions on a range of issues, including efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region,” according to a statement.

The visiting ministers will meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who said in a televised speech that Pakistan is pursuing “sincere and robust diplomatic efforts” to help stop the conflict through mediation.

Casualty toll rises after missile intercepted over Abu Dhabi

The casualty toll from a missile attack early Saturday in Abu Dhabi has risen to six.

The Abu Dhabi Media Office said an additional Pakistani national was injured by falling debris in the vicinity of Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi when air defense systems intercepted a ballistic missile.

The attack caused three fires in the area which have been brought under control, it said.

Kuwait’s international airport damaged in drone attack

The Kuwait International airport was hit by drone attacks on Saturday, authorities said.

The Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement that the attacks severely damaged the airport’s radar systems.

No casualties were reported, it said.

Palestinian brothers killed in Israeli strike on Gaza, hospital says

An Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinian brothers Saturday morning in the Gaza Strip, hospital authorities said.

The strike hit the men close to the Showa roundabout in Gaza City’s Shijaiyah neighborhood, according to the Al-Ahly hospital.

The area is close to the so-called Yellow Line which separates Israeli-controlled areas across the Gaza Strip from the rest of the enclave.

Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Yemen’s Houthis claim responsibility for a missile attack on Israel

The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a missile attack on Israel, their first since the war in the Middle East started.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, issued the claim in a statement aired Saturday morning by the rebels’ Al-Masirah satellite television.

The Israeli military said it intercepted the missile.

The attack came hours after Saree signaled in a vague statement Friday that the rebels would join the war that shocked the region and rattled the global economy.

He said the rebels fired a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting what he described as “sensitive Israeli military sites” in southern Israel.

More than two dozen US troops have been wounded in Iranian attacks on Saudi air base in the past week, AP sources say

More than two dozen U.S. troops have been wounded in Iranian attacks on a Saudi air base in the past week, according to two people who have been briefed on the matter.

Iran fired six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan air base in a Friday attack that wounded at least 15 troops, including five seriously, according to the sources who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. U.S. officials initially reported that at least 10 U.S. troops were injured, including two seriously wounded.

The base had come under attack twice earlier this week, including an incident that injured 14 U.S. troops, according to the people who had been briefed on the matter.

Located about 96 kilometers (60 miles) from the Saudi capital of Riyadh, the base is run by the Royal Saudi Air Force, but is also used by U.S. troops.

Oman reports drone attack on Salalah port

Oman said the strike hit Salalah port Saturday morning, wounding a foreign worker.

The government media office said the two-drone attack also damaged a crane.

Sirens sound in Bahrain ahead of a potential attack

Sirens sounded in Bahrain Saturday morning, ahead of a potential attack, authorities said.

The Interior Ministry urged people to head to the nearest safe location.

Saudi base faced an onslaught of Iranian missiles and drones in an attack that wounded US troops

Iran fired six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan air base in a Friday attack, according to a person briefed on the assault.

The Iranian assault wounded at least 15 U.S. service members, including five who were seriously hurt in the attack, according to the person who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. U.S. officials initially reported that at least 10 U.S. troops were injured, including two who were seriously wounded.

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By Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani