Houthis strike Saudi targets, Israel marks Oct. 7 anniversary and other Mideast developments

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed that they attacked military facilities and airports in Saudi Arabia as the war between the kingdom and the Iran-backed rebels escalated.

Israelis are marking the third anniversary of the Palestinian militant Hamas group’s deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which sparked a devastating war in Gaza, while for Palestinians the anniversary ushers in yet another day of misery.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Wednesday. Full coverage is available here.

The Houthis used ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones, to attack military facilities and airports in Saudi Arabia, the rebels’ military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said Wednesday on social media. He didn’t provide evidence for the claim.

The attacks targeted King Khalid International Airport in the capital, Riyadh, with missiles, he said.

Flights to and from the airport were disrupted, with planes holding away from the airfield, according to Flightradar24, a tracking platform.

Also attacked were Abha airport, military facilities in Khamis Mushait and other “critical sites” in the cities of Najran and Asir, Saree said.

Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, said they intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired by the rebels north of Riyadh.

The attacks came as Saudi Arabia and its allied Yemeni forces launched a major ground and air offensive on the Houthis on Yemen’s western coast and elsewhere in the country.

The Houthis also said they launched a missile strike early Wednesday against Yemen’s port city of Aden, the seat of the internationally recognized government.

An Associated Press journalist heard explosions that rocked the city around 2 a.m. local time.

Israelis have gathered at intersections, bomb shelters and the site of a music festival that Hamas-led militants overran on Oct. 7, 2023, to mark the anniversary of the attack that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. The attack also sparked the war in Gaza and led to a series of conflicts across the Middle East.

For Palestinians, the anniversary brings another day of misery and difficulties after an Israeli retaliatory campaign in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people.

Most of the population, about 2 million people, lives in vast, squalid tent camps, with large parts of the strip’s cities reduced to rubble. More than half the territory remains in the hands of the Israeli military, and despite a ceasefire deal reached nearly a year ago, Israeli strikes continue almost daily.

Three years after Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the city of Rafah, which used to be home to a quarter million people, lies in ruins.

The Israeli military has razed the southern city and other towns and districts to the ground, satellite imagery shows.

Demolition, using bulldozers and explosives, has continued since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal was reached a year ago.

Gaza’s devastated landscape is just one of many wounds that the enclave’s 2 million Palestinians have endured since the Israeli campaign that has killed over 74,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. More than one out of every 10 people from Gaza’s prewar population has been killed or wounded by Israeli fire.

With almost the entire population homeless, the coastal territory is now effectively one of the world’s most populated tent cities.

This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.

Houthi supporters chant slogans during an armed tribal rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

People visit a roadside bomb shelter where people were killed during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack along the Israel-Gaza border, as the country marks the third anniversary of the attack, near Kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Houthi supporters carry their rifles while attending an armed tribal rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

People mark the third anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel at the site of the Nova music festival, where hundreds of revelers were killed and abducted, near Kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

TOKYO (AP) — The governor of Okinawa demanded Wednesday that Japan's central government do more to ensure effective discipline among U.S. service members on the southern island following the arrest of a U.S. Marine on accusations that he robbed and murdered a local woman.

Gov. Genta Koja, in Tokyo for the first time since taking office a week ago, conveyed Okinawa's outrage in his meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, asking her government for further efforts to reduce the burden of hosting U.S. military bases on the small island.

“Okinawa has requested preventive measures every time similar crimes were repeated in past, and now we have this case again,” Koja told Takaichi in a guest room at the Prime Minister's Office packed with reporters.

“I must say past disciplinary measures and human rights education implemented by the U.S. military have not worked at all,” Koja said.

People in Okinawa have long opposed the heavy U.S. military presence on the island and complained about noise, pollution and crime related to American bases, though some have come to see its strategic value due to what is widely viewed as a growing threat from China.

Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, a 20-year-old Ohio native belonging to the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of strangling Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel and stealing her wallet and backpack. He has denied the allegations, according to Japanese media.

Takaichi said she regretted the “heinous crime” and shared the outrage. Noting the new disciplinary measures announced by the U.S. military Tuesday, Takaichi said she expected the American government to take subsequent steps.

Japan and the U.S. will discuss “how to implement preventive measures that are effective,” she said.

Hours earlier, the U.S. military in Okinawa announced a 48-hour pause of all military operations for training through noon on Friday, as well as restricting the ability of troops to leave their base and prohibiting consumption of alcohol.

Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force, wrote in a letter posted Tuesday on X that episodes like these “demand we pause for reflection” and that serving on the Japanese island “comes with responsibility.”

U.S. troops on Okinawa will be under a curfew from midnight to 5 a.m. for 30 days following the two-day training period, Watson said.

Koja said he appreciated prompt response from the Japanese and U.S. governments to the murder case “as a sign they both took the case seriously.”

However, he will need to see details of the ongoing training, he said, and requested the Japanese involvement to make U.S. disciplinary measures more effective.

A majority of the more than 50,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan under a bilateral security agreement are based on the island.

Earlier Monday, Koja made the same request in his meeting with Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

Associated Press writers Ben Finley and Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, center, poses with Okinawa Governor Genta Koja, left and Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara ahead of their meeting at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Oct.7, 2026. (Franck Robichon/Pool Photo via AP)

Okinawa Governor Genta Koja speaks to reporters after his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Oct.7, 2026. (Franck Robichon/Pool Photo via AP)

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, center, holds a written request she received from Okinawa Governor Genta Koja, left, as they pose with Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara ahead of their meeting at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Oct.7, 2026. (Franck Robichon/Pool Photo via AP)

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, right, receives a written request from Okinawa Governor Genta Koja ahead of their meeting at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Oct.7, 2026. (Franck Robichon/Pool Photo via AP)

Okinawa Governor Genta Koja speaks to reporters after his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Oct.7, 2026. (Franck Robichon/Pool Photo via AP)

Okinawa Gov. Genta Koja, left, and Japan's Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi greet, prior to their meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (Kyodo News via AP)