Saudi Arabia intercepts missiles as Aramco building in Riyadh is damaged, and other Mideast news
Saudi Arabia said it intercepted incoming missiles targeting the kingdom's capital and other regions on Sunday, with falling debris damaging a building belonging to the state-owned oil giant Aramco in Riyadh’s financial district.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates said it rescued 22 crew members after a fire broke out aboard a cargo ship in the Sea of Oman, as risks to commercial shipping in the region remain high. And in Israel, opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot formally got the first chance to form a new government.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Sunday. Read our full coverage here.
Witnesses in Riyadh said they heard a loud explosion Sunday morning and described damage at an Aramco building in the King Abdullah Financial District. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.
The Saudi Energy Ministry said there were no casualties at the Aramco facility.
The Saudi-led coalition said its air defenses intercepted two ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles targeting Riyadh and other regions early Sunday, accusing the Iran-backed Houthis of launching the weapons.
The Houthis' military spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, claimed in a statement Sunday that they had hit Riyadh’s financial district and other targets in response to attacks in recent days on a village and a market in Yemen, which he said left dozens dead or wounded and blamed on Saudi Arabia.
— By Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut
The UAE National Guard said the crew members — all of Arab nationalities — were in stable condition following a rescue when their cargo ship caught fire in the Sea of Oman. The National Guard did not identify the vessel or specify the cause of the fire.
The British military organization that monitors maritime security incidents said Sunday that a tanker caught fire on Saturday northwest of Khasab, Oman, prompting the evacuation of its crew. It was unclear whether it was the same incident.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday evening formally gave opposition politician Gadi Eisenkot the first chance to form the next government.
While complex coalition negotiations still lie ahead, this is a significant step in the former military chief’s effort to oust Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, after elections held in a deeply divided country scarred by the Hamas-led attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, and the multifront wars they triggered.
A large sandstone slab collapsed onto makeshift tents housing displaced Palestinians in central Gaza on Sunday evening, killing at least four people, including three children, according to health officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs and Nasser hospitals.
Civil defense workers and residents in the city of Deir al-Balah searched through the rubble largely using their bare hands. Gaza has been battered by torrential rains over the past few days, which is believed to have contributed to the collapse.
Most of Gaza’s 2 million Palestinians are still displaced or live in tent camps, where they grapple with poor conditions and overcrowding.
The president told CNN in a phone interview on Sunday that as long as the U.S. continues to see progress in negotiations with Tehran and they sign a “strong agreement,” it’s “highly unlikely it’s going to be necessary” to resume strikes.
The president said, however, that the U.S. had identified infrastructure targets, including 38 bridges, that it would strike if military action resumes.
The region has been on edge over the possibility of a renewed all-out war.
Residents on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz reported hearing several explosions late on Sunday evening, Iranian state media reported.
Similar reports have been made in previous days, with no official confirmation or claims as to what might have caused them.
Iran hanged three men Sunday in Karaj who were convicted of armed riot, damage to public properties and cooperation with Israel and the United States during nationwide anti-government protests in January, state TV reported.
Iran has hanged more than two dozen people on similar charges in various cities. International rights groups say political prisoners in Iran are tried in secretive courts without due process.
The protests, some of the largest ever held against the Islamic Republic's government, were largely stamped out when the United States and Israel went to war with Iran on Feb. 28.
An Israeli strike on Sunday killed two Palestinians, a man and woman, in Muwasi, a tent camp area on Gaza’s coast, said health officials at Nasser hospital.
Israel’s military said it had struck a “Hamas terrorist” in the area.
Sunday’s strikes came more than a year after a ceasefire deal was reached between Israel and Hamas, yet Israel still launches near-daily strikes on the enclave.
The State Department said Sunday that it had declared Ibrahim Charara, Lebanon’s consul general in Detroit, “persona non grata” after reviewing posts from up to five years ago celebrating the 1983 Hezbollah attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut. The posts were first reported by the Washington Free Beacon.
“Anyone in the United States who celebrates or justifies terrorist attacks has no place in our country,” the department said.
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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
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