UK to send jets to defend Saudi Arabia from Houthi attacks, and other Mideast news

Britain says it will expand its military support to defend Saudi Arabia against Houthi attacks. Meanwhile, in southern Yemen, the death toll from a missile strike by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on a government training camp rose to 73.

An Israeli attack on an apartment in Gaza killed two people and wounded others. The Israeli military said it had targeted a Hamas militant.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Tuesday. Read our full coverage here.

Britain said it is expanding military support for Saudi Arabia against the Houthis to include “defensive” air patrols by Royal Air Force jets.

Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said RAF Typhoon jets would “conduct defensive counter-air operations over Saudi Arabia, helping to protect Saudi cities, civilian populations and critical national infrastructure from Houthi attack.”

That means the British planes would attack drones or missiles in the air, but Streeting said they would not strike Houthi targets on the ground.

The U.K. will also send a military transport and an unspecified number of military advisers to Saudi Arabia, Streeting said.

The announcement follows Britain’s decision last month to offer in-air refueling of Saudi planes operating against the Iran-backed rebels. That mission is being extended by another 90 days, Streeting said.

Israel's military struck an apartment in Gaza before dawn, killing two people and wounding others. The victims were a husband and wife, according to Shifa Hospital. The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas militant.

The attack followed strikes on Monday that killed at least four people.

More than 1,500 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israel since the ceasefire agreed last year by Israel and Hamas, according to the territory’s health ministry. The ministry maintains detailed records and is regarded as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its toll but says women and children account for nearly half of those killed.

A senior Yemeni official says the death toll from a Houthi missile strike on a government military camp in southern Yemen has increased to 73 people.

The recruits were all aged between 18 and 20, and some were still missing a day after the Iranian-backed rebels hit the al-Alam training camp in the southern province of Shabwa with ballistic missiles, Shabwa governor Awad Ibn al-Wazir told The Associated Press.

Monday’s strike was part of a recent surge of fighting in Yemen, which started when forces from the internationally-recognized government and Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes on Houthi-held Sanaa International Airport in July, shattering a 2022 ceasefire deal that largely stopped fighting in the country’s civil war.

Meanwhile, a Houthi missile hit a residential area in the besieged city of Taiz, killing at least two teenage girls, local authorities said. The strike also wounded six other people.

The Houthis have besieged the city as part of their monthslong offensive on Yemeni government forces.

The United Nations has raised alarm over the blocking of humanitarian aid from reaching Taiz.

— By Samy Magdy in Cairo

A senior Qatari official says Israeli leaders are not committed to a negotiated end to the war in Gaza and are instead focused only on “war and death and destruction” in the lead up to Israel’s first national elections since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.

“Sadly, right now we do not have a partner for peace in Israel,” said Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar's Foreign Ministry and adviser to the Qatari prime minister, speaking to The Associated Press on stage at the Global Security Forum in Doha.

Al-Ansari said: “You look at all the statements coming out from all the political parties and all the political candidates right now in the elections. Does any of them even talk about peace with Palestinians? Does any of them even talk about stability of the region?”

— By Victoria Eastwood in Doha

Netanyahu suggested that Israel and the United States could launch new attacks on Iran in a video he posted of a call with Trump.

During the call, Netanyahu thanked Trump for his endorsement, which came about a week before Israel’s national elections. Netanyahu faces a tight reelection race widely viewed as a referendum on his leadership before and after the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack and through a series of inconclusive wars, including with Iran.

“Donald, we have a job to finish. You said it, and we’ll finish it together. We’ll finish it, and no one else will do it,” Netanyahu said in the video.

Turkey has submitted to parliament a mutual defense agreement it signed with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan for ratification.

The agreement commits the sides to regard an armed attack against one as an attack on all three, obliging them to provide immediate assistance, according to a text of the agreement obtained by TRT state broadcaster on Tuesday.

It also paves the way for closer military cooperation, intelligence sharing, and collaboration in the defence industry through joint production and technology transfers.

The 16-article agreement will be reviewed by a parliamentary committee before being put to a vote in the Turkish parliament’s general assembly.

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

Palestinians inspect the damage to an apartment building struck by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians inspect the damage to an apartment building struck by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Relatives mourn over the body of Dina Yassin, who was killed alongside her husband in an Israeli army strike on an apartment in Gaza City, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Dima Yassin mourns over the body of her mother, Dina Yassin, during the funeral of her parents, who were killed in an Israeli army strike on an apartment in Gaza City, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Dima Yassin mourns over the body of her mother, Dina Yassin, during the funeral of her parents, who were killed in an Israeli army strike on an apartment in Gaza City, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

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