Saudi Arabia's civil defence authority issued early-warning alerts to residents over a possible airborne threat to several cities, including the holy city of Mecca, before lifting the warning, according to Sky TG24. The alerts covered Mecca, Jeddah, Taif and Yanbu, and the broadcaster reported that Saudi air defences had been placed on alert for a potential drone or missile strike.
Two explosions were heard in Riyadh in the early hours of the morning, an AFP journalist in the Saudi capital reported, according to Sky TG24. The broadcaster also reported, citing Al Jazeera, that Saudi air defences intercepted two ballistic missiles fired by Yemen's Houthis towards Taif and Yanbu.
Why it matters
The alerts touch the city that hosts the annual Hajj pilgrimage and the holiest site in Islam, and they came as the Houthis continue to launch attacks on the kingdom. A warning that is issued and then withdrawn within hours still carries weight for residents, pilgrims and airlines, and it signals that Saudi air defences remain active against a sustained missile and drone campaign.
The broader regional picture reported by Sky TG24 is one of simultaneous flashpoints: strikes on Saudi cities, a major Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank, and renewed fears of armed attacks linked to Islamic State.
Israel closes West Bank and launches Hebron operation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a full closure of the West Bank and announced a large-scale military operation after an attack on a checkpoint near Hebron in which two Israeli soldiers were killed and two others wounded, Sky TG24 reported. The two Palestinian attackers, both aged 27 and members of the same family, were killed by Israeli forces after a gun battle that lasted about twenty minutes, according to the broadcaster.
Speaking at the site of the attack four days before Israeli elections, Netanyahu said the army had been told to seal off the area completely and evacuate residents, and he described the planned operation as one not seen since the 1967 Six-Day War, Sky TG24 reported. Israeli military vehicles entered Hebron and residents were forced to leave, according to the broadcaster.
Sky TG24 reported that the far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich spoke of a "Gaza-style campaign" aimed at dismantling the Palestinian Authority. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Rome opposed the operation, telling the broadcaster that Israel would not achieve security by striking the Palestinian population.
According to Sky TG24, citing Al Jazeera, Israeli forces raided at least 15 locations in the northern West Bank overnight and arrested dozens of Palestinians, including in Nablus and Jenin. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported 15 arrests in the Nablus governorate, nine of them in Nablus itself and six in the village of Burin, plus two more in the Bethlehem governorate, the broadcaster said. Wafa also reported that dozens of Palestinian families in an area of Hebron were ordered to leave their homes.
Italian activists return home
Five Italian women detained in the West Bank while helping Palestinian farmers harvest olives were expected back in Italy this morning, Sky TG24 reported. Staff from Italy's embassy in Tel Aviv carried out a consular visit at the airport the previous evening, and the women appeared to be in good physical condition, according to a statement from the Italian foreign ministry cited by the broadcaster. During the visit they were able to use their phones to speak with their lawyer.
Other developments
Sky TG24 also reported an armed attack on a church in Jordan during a funeral, in which six people were killed, and said the spectre of Islamic State had returned.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will travel to Moscow on Tuesday for a meeting of gas-exporting countries and will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines, Tehran's ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, told the Tasnim news agency, according to Sky TG24. Jalali said the two leaders would discuss economic cooperation and geopolitical matters.
The broadcaster further reported, citing Haaretz and information given to Reuters by two senior Iranian security officials speaking anonymously, that Tehran has drawn up detailed plans to target undersea communications cables in the Gulf if the United States and Israel attack Iran again. One official said Iran would try to prevent repairs in order to prolong outages, including internet connections, and warned Washington not to "play with fire," according to Sky TG24.
What to watch next: whether the Saudi alerts are reissued, how far Israel's Hebron operation extends, and whether Pezeshkian's Moscow trip produces any shift in Iran's posture.
