Israel returns 22 artifacts as Greece pushes to bring antiquities home

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Israel on Tuesday returned 22 ancient artifacts that had been illegally removed from Greece, as Athens steps up an international repatriation campaign ultimately aimed at securing the return of sculptures taken from the Acropolis.

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni received the objects from the Israel Antiquities Authority and Amir Ganor, director of its theft prevention division, at a ceremony held at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

“It is the first time that Israel has returned antiquities to Greece, marking the starting point of closer cooperation between the two countries for the protection of cultural heritage,” Mendoni said. “Every return of a cultural object to its place of origin has a broader symbolic and moral dimension.”

The collection includes a small bronze statuette of a woman and pottery comprising slender oil flasks, two-handled amphorae and drinking cups decorated with mythological scenes and geometric motifs. The objects are provisionally dated to between about 700 B.C. and 320 B.C.

Athens is broadening bilateral cultural ties as part of its campaign to secure the return of the Parthenon Marbles. The 2,500-year-old sculptures were removed from the Acropolis and are now displayed at the British Museum in London.

Greece, under its current conservative government, and Israel have strengthened energy and defense ties in recent years. In August, Israel signed a 3 billion euro (about $3.5 billion) deal to build an air defense system in Greece, dubbed Achilles Shield, in what was described as the largest defense deal between the two countries.

Greek and Israeli officials on Tuesday did not disclose how the artifacts were discovered in Israel or the circumstances of their illegal removal from Greece. In previous cases, antiquities returned from private collections abroad have often been traced to illicit excavations.

Pninat Yanay, the Israeli ambassador to Greece, said the items were recovered during an “investigation by the Israeli authorities into the illegal antiquities trade.”

She added: “In both Greece and Israel, archaeology has a special place in national life. It helps us understand where we came from and who we are.”

Greek antiquities dating to the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. are displayed during a repatriation ceremony at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, after 22 artifacts illegally removed from Greece were returned by Israel. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Greek antiquities dating to the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. are displayed during a repatriation ceremony at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, after 22 artifacts illegally removed from Greece were returned by Israel. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Greek antiquities dating to the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. are displayed during a repatriation ceremony at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, after 22 artifacts illegally removed from Greece were returned by Israel. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Greek antiquities dating to the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. are displayed during a repatriation ceremony at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, after 22 artifacts illegally removed from Greece were returned by Israel. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Greek antiquities dating to the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. are displayed during a repatriation ceremony at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, after 22 artifacts illegally removed from Greece were returned by Israel. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

CAIRO (AP) — The Saudi-led coalition carried out new airstrikes on oil facilities west of Sanaa, according to Houthi-linked broadcaster Al Masirah and residents of Yemen’s capital.

The strikes marked a fresh escalation in the widening Middle East crisis and came shortly after a coalition spokesman urged residents to evacuate the area for their safety. Witnesses in Sanaa reported hearing explosions. It was not immediately clear which facilities were hit.

In a rare statement, the coalition urged civilians in the Houthi-controlled capital to leave the Yemeni Oil Company site and nearby storage areas ahead of a possible strike.

Houthi officials appeared to anticipate an attack on the site. The oil company said its storage facilities were empty and that a Saudi strike would not affect oil reserves or supplies for residents.

Shortly after the warning, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said on Telegram that any Saudi attack on Sanaa would be met with a “firm and painful” response in Riyadh.

The area to be evacuated in western Sanaa, al-Subaha, is on a hill overlooking the capital. It is not a populated area, but the fuel station nearby is used by the public.

The back-and-forth threats come as Saudi Arabia is scrambling to determine how its air defenses failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones fired by the Houthis, including an attack on Riyadh's international airport on Saturday that killed at least 13 people and wounded over 300.

The latest conflict between the Saudis and the Houthis began last month after the rebels seized key areas along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical waterway for the transport of Gulf oil and other goods at the southern end of the Red Sea off Yemen.

The Saudi-led coalition, backing forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, has been trying to retake them.

Earlier Tuesday, the Houthis renewed their warning against using Saudi airspace, Houthi-controlled media reported. Several airlines have suspended service to the kingdom because of the Houthi attacks on airports.

In a statement published by the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency, the Houthi-run foreign ministry referred to Saudi Arabia as the “Kingdom of the Horn of Satan” and said the kingdom “must realize that security, stability, and sovereignty must belong to everyone; otherwise, no one will enjoy them.”

Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called for the Houthis to immediately halt attacks on Saudi Arabia.

“There is no justification for these attacks, and they cannot be accepted,” Abdelatty told Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a phone call Tuesday.

Abdelatty also called for prioritizing diplomacy and a political solution to the conflict between Iran and the United States to avert “further escalation and instability” in the region, according to the Egyptian readout of the call.

The Saudi-led coalition said earlier Tuesday that three drones were intercepted north of Riyadh. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify that claim.

Saudi Arabia has been pushing for the U.S. military to provide more direct support in the fight against the Houthis.

The U.S. has provided intelligence sharing, target identification and planning for a Saudi-led offensive, but has held off on carrying out strikes against the Houthis.

A U.S. intervention could prompt the Houthis to try to halt shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb, restricting the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf.

President Donald Trump told reporters in Washington on Monday that the Houthis were “misbehaving very badly,” but didn’t say anything about whether the U.S. would respond to the rebels.

AP writers Samy Magdy in Cairo and Aamer Madhani in Jerusalem contributed.

A truck loaded with firewood drives through the Al-Basateen neighborhood in Aden, Yemen, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)