Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia have ignited fires at several oil facilities and wounded dozens of people, raising the stakes in renewed fighting between a U.S. ally and an Iranian proxy just days after deadly clashes in Iran, Lebanon and Gaza.
Meanwhile, Britain is set to ban goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank in response to an expansion program.
Here’s a look at the latest news in the Middle East.
Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia set fires and wound 73 people
A wave of Houthi attacks ignited fires at several oil facilities and utilities in Saudi Arabia’s southern region, injuring at least 73 people, officials said.
The attacks early on Tuesday mark a major escalation in the renewed conflict between an important U.S. ally and the Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen. They follow weeks of heightening clashes between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen, which shattered a four-year truce in the country’s civil war.
The flare-up brings further instability to a region scarred by nearly three years of wars, raising fresh concerns for the global economy. It also threatens to squeeze shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a critical route for oil and global trade that has helped cushion the blow as Iran chokes off shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The attacks hit “civilian and economic facilities” in the Saudi cities of Abha’s Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait said Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, a spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, said in a statement. Al-Malki said those wounded in the attack included women and children.
The Saudi Energy Ministry said the attacks ignited fires at several oil facilities and utilities in the kingdom’s southern region, temporarily halting operations.
UK prepares to ban goods from Israeli settlements
The U.K. government is preparing to impose a ban on goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying an expansion program there is endangering efforts to establish a Palestinian state.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is due to give details in the House of Commons later on Tuesday, after saying last week that he would “reset” U.K. relations with Israel.
Before the announcement, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said that it “isn’t intended to be a boycott of all Israeli goods.”
The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has presided over a surge of settlement construction in the West Bank, which Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war and which would make up the main part of a future Palestinian state.
The international community considers the settlements illegal or illegitimate, and the Palestinians say they are the main barrier to a lasting peace agreement. But Netanyahu’s government views the West Bank as the biblical and historical homeland of the Jewish people and is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.
The United Kingdom, a longtime ally of Israel, recognized Palestinian statehood last year in an attempt to revive dwindling efforts to achieve a two-state solution.
