Yemen conflict escalates as Saudi Arabia faces security dilemma

More deaths and injuries were reported in Yemen and Saudi Arabia on Friday as the UN envoy for Yemen warned that the country had returned to "full-scale war," with hostilities spreading across multiple front lines.

Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said on Friday that three Saudi citizens, including an airline pilot, were killed and a number of others of various nationalities were injured in two attacks targeting Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on Thursday.

The first attack targeted facilities at the airport, while the second hit an aircraft belonging to the country's national carrier, Saudia, GACA said in a statement.

GACA said airport operations and air traffic have resumed. Airlines, including Qatar Airways, flydubai and Etihad Airways, have announced the cancellation of several flights to and from Riyadh over the next few days.

Fighting intensifies across multiple fronts

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said on Saturday it destroyed more than 100 military targets in a "large-scale operation" against the group.

"We are carrying out a large-scale operation targeting the personnel and capabilities of the Houthi terrorist militia," Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi coalition, wrote on X.

"We destroyed 136 military targets in areas controlled by the Houthi terrorist militia," he said in a separate post.

The Houthis' Almasirah TV channel reported that Saudi missiles targeted areas in the northwestern Yemeni governorate of Saada. It also reported that two airport employees were killed and two others wounded in an airstrike on Sanaa International Airport on Friday afternoon.

Fighting also intensified between the Houthis and government forces, backed by the Saudi-led Arab coalition, in southwestern Yemen, particularly around the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Earlier on Friday, Yemeni government forces renewed an offensive against Houthi positions near Bab al-Mandab, seeking to expand recent gains and push deeper into Houthi-held areas overlooking the vital international shipping route, a government military official told Xinhua.

However, Al-Masirah TV, gave a conflicting account, saying Houthi forces had repelled government troops advancing from the neighboring province of Lahj toward the southern approaches to Bab al-Mandab, claiming dozens of casualties among the advancing forces.

Security dilemma for Saudi Arabia

As Houthi attacks continue, Saudi Arabia is seeking military support from countries including Türkiye and Syria, amid uncertainty over the extent of US involvement in the conflict.

US President Donald Trump criticized the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia on Friday, saying, "It's not a good thing. I'm not happy about it."

Washington, however, has so far refrained from direct military intervention in support of Riyadh, despite the two countries' longstanding security partnership.

Li Zixin, a Middle East expert at the China Institute of International Studies, told China Media Group that the key reason for Washington's reluctance to meet Saudi Arabia's request for assistance is that defending the kingdom is not among its top strategic priorities at present.

According to Li, the Trump administration is primarily focused on stabilizing oil prices and ensuring that the Strait of Hormuz remains open to shipping. "Opening a new military front in Yemen is therefore not a priority for Washington."

Li said that substantial US military resources had already been committed to operations against Iran. Launching large-scale airstrikes against the Houthis would risk opening a second high-intensity front, placing further strain on US force deployments and ammunition stockpiles, he added.

UN calls for political settlement

In a Friday briefing to the UN Security Council on Yemen, Hans Grundberg, UN special envoy of the secretary-general for Yemen, said hostilities have intensified in recent weeks in Yemen, and he condemned Houthi attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.

Ongoing instability in the Middle East continues to affect dynamics in Yemen, while developments there in turn reverberate across the region, noted the UN envoy, who urged a political settlement.

"Unless war is to become Yemen's permanent reality, the time to consider political strategies is now," said Grundberg.

Also on Friday, Türkiye strongly condemned the Houthis' attacks on Saudi airports, calling for an immediate halt to attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.

"We condemn in the strongest terms the attacks," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement, reaffirming Türkiye's full solidarity with Saudi Arabia and reiterated its call for resolving ongoing conflicts through dialogue and diplomacy.