The Saudi-led coalition says Houthis hit Khamis Mushait, Abha, and Taif with missiles and drones, injuring 13 civilians and damaging homes and vehicles—days after strikes on Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan, and Najran that it said wounded 73. Sirens in Makkah followed; the Grand Mosque was unharmed. The author, citing a Saudi source, treats long-range systems as a threat to the holy cities and to IRGC “Axis” leverage beyond Yemen.

The Cabinet under MBS restated a right to defend territory under the UN Charter. The author ties that to Houthi gains on Yemen’s west coast and Bab al-Mandab. EIA: 9.3 million bpd through the strait in 2023, 4.1 million in 2024, 4.2 million in H1 2025; LNG near zero. Threat of attack, not a full close, already reroutes ships.

Deterrence is framed as limited strikes plus a stronger Yemeni government, not an open-ended war. Diplomacy stays; any deal should cover arms, ports, borders, and navigation. Short-term: strait likely stays open but risky. A major energy hit or more Saudi civilian dead, the piece says, would bring a much harder Saudi reply.

The Yemeni Houthi militia on Monday targeted several Saudi cities — Khamis Mushait, Abha and Taif — with ballistic missiles and drones, according to a statement issued by the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen. The following day, the coalition announced that the attacks had injured 13 civilians and damaged seven homes and two vehicles.

This round of hostilities came less than a week after attacks that targeted Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran, injuring 73 civilians, including women and children, according to the coalition. Al Arabiya aired footage of the wounded being treated in Saudi hospitals, along with photos showing damage to homes and residential neighborhoods.

These figures are significant, as they indicate a return to a pattern that years of de-escalation and negotiations were supposed to have made less likely: the use of missiles and drones to impose political and security........

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