By Enes Abuomer and Mohammed R Mhawish

    US President Donald Trump says he “would not use” nuclear weapons against Iran, adding he did not see “putting US troops on the ground” there.

    The Saudi-led coalition spokesperson says coalition forces intercepted and destroyed a drone launched towards Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.

    Saudi Arabia calls Houthi attacks “full-fledged war crimes”, accusing the Yemeni group of endangering Muslim holy sites and pilgrims.

    Yemen’s government says the prime minister and cabinet survived a Houthi missile attack on the al-Maashiq presidential palace in Aden. At least five were killed and 16 wounded, Yemen’s health minister says.

Gaza hospitals overwhelmed as Israel blocks critically ill patients from leaving: ministry

    Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel is keeping the Rafah crossing closed for a second consecutive week to patients and wounded people who need treatment abroad.

    The ministry said Israel is committing “grave violations” of international humanitarian law and is “deliberately denying the sick and wounded their right to treatment”.

    It warned that the closure has led to “a dangerous and fast-growing backlog” of critical cases, with waiting lists “growing daily and far exceeding the capacity” of Gaza’s “dilapidated, besieged hospitals” to cope or offer even minimal treatment.

    The ministry called on all concerned parties “to apply serious and urgent pressure” on Israel to open Rafah and all other crossings and “to allow critically ill patients to leave”.

Saudi Arabia says Asian Cup ‘on schedule’ despite Houthi attacks

    Saudi Arabia’s local organising committee says preparations for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup remain on schedule despite escalating Houthi attacks on the kingdom.

    “Preparations remain on schedule for the tournament,” the committee said in a statement late on Thursday, adding that work was continuing in coordination with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

    The tournament is due to begin on January 7 in Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar, but recent attacks have raised concerns about whether it can go ahead as planned. Several sporting events, including domestic football matches, have already been postponed.

    AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said on Wednesday that a final decision could wait until the end of November.

    “We could move back a year to 2028 if we need to,” he said. “But at the moment we are monitoring the situation and everything is on schedule.”

China tells Israel opening Gaza access ‘immediate priority’

    Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi tells Israel’s President Isaac Herzog that the “immediate priority is to fully open access to the Gaza Strip”.

    Wang also told Herzog during a meeting in Azerbaijan that “promoting peace and reconciliation” in the region is “the cornerstone of China’s Middle East policy”.

What military options does Trump have left against Iran 

    US President Donald Trump has ruled out further attacks on Iran before the November 3 midterm elections, but Washington continues to deploy military forces to the Middle East as the war remains deadlocked.

    The US has at least three aircraft carrier strike groups in the region or heading towards it, while Iranian attacks on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have intensified.

    Military analysts told Al Jazeera that Washington could maintain its naval blockade of Iranian ports, resume air and missile strikes or consider limited ground operations, including a possible attempt to seize Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil export hub.

    But each option carries significant risks. Experts warned that Iran has adapted its military tactics, while US stocks of expensive missiles and interceptors have been depleted during months of fighting.

    A full-scale invasion remains highly unlikely, analysts said, with the potential for heavy casualties and further regional escalation.

China tells Israel to stop and reverse ‘forced’ West Bank settlements

    China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi tells Israel’s president that Israel should stop and reverse its “forced establishment” of settlements in the occupied West Bank.

    Wang Yi made the remarks to Israeli President Isaac Herzog during a meeting in Azerbaijan, China’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.

    Wang said China has consistently held that the Palestinian question is the greatest historical injustice of this century, the ministry said.

    Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law.

Saudi-led coalition forces intercept, destroy drone launched towards Eastern Province

    Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Major General Turki al-Maliki says coalition forces intercepted and destroyed a drone launched towards Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.

    The source of the drone and whether there was any damage were not immediately specified.

Houthis claim to have shot down Saudi drone over Yemen’s Marib

    Yemen’s Houthi armed forces say they have shot down a Saudi Wing Loong II armed reconnaissance drone over Marib governorate.

    In a statement posted on Telegram, the group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said the aircraft had been carrying out what he described as “hostile activities” in the governorate’s airspace.

    He said Houthi forces had brought down the drone using what he described as a “suitable weapon”, without providing further details.

Family house collapses in Gaza amid early morning Israeli bombardment

    Israel is intensifying its attacks across the Gaza Strip tonight, journalists on the ground report.

    It is after midnight in Gaza, and air strikes are pummelling vast areas of the north, the journalists said. People are panicking and describing the bombardment as unbearable, they reported.

    Footage published by Palestinian journalists on Friday, which Al Jazeera has verified, shows a partial collapse of a family’s house in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City.

    Part of the building’s facade collapsed, with debris and rubble scattered on the pavement in front of neighbouring shops.

    No injuries were recorded.

Iraq approves deputy PM from Iran-backed group under US sanctions

    Iraq’s parliament approves a senior leader of the Iran-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq movement as a deputy prime minister, completing Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s government as the country grapples with the fallout of the US-Israel war on Iran.

    Lawmakers voted on Thursday to approve three deputy prime ministers and 11 ministers, including Nayef al-Shammari as defence minister and Yasir al-Maliki as interior minister.

    One of the deputies, Laith al-Khazali, is the brother of the movement’s leader, Qais al-Khazali. The US designated Asaib Ahl al-Haq a foreign “terrorist” organisation in 2020 and named both brothers “specially designated global terrorists”, citing attacks including a 2007 assault that killed five US soldiers.

    The US Treasury sanctioned them in 2019 over the killing of protesters in Iraq.

    Al-Zaidi said the government faced exceptional economic and security challenges imposed by the war, which began on February 28. Before the war, Iraq exported about 3.5 million barrels of oil a day through the Strait of Hormuz, generating 90 percent of government revenue.

    To cover salaries, al-Zaidi devalued the dinar by almost 15 percent against the US dollar. He also vowed to disarm non-state armed groups and complete the withdrawal of US forces.

Oil prices edge lower as investors weigh Middle East tensions

    Oil prices have edged down in early Friday trading as investors weigh escalating tensions in the Middle East against possible US measures to ease restrictions on tankers operating in the so-called shadow fleet.

    Brent crude futures fell 41 cents, or 0.39 percent, to $105.51 a barrel as of 00:12 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 54 cents, or 0.55 percent, to $97.43.

    The decline comes after the International Energy Agency agreed to release more than 20 million barrels of diesel and any remaining oil from emergency reserves pledged in March to ease supply pressures.

    The Trump administration is also considering lifting sanctions on some vessels that have transported oil from countries including Russia, Iran and Venezuela in an effort to reduce record-high shipping costs, Reuters reported, citing a US official.

    Meanwhile, renewed attacks on vessels near the Strait of Hormuz and escalating fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthis continue to raise concerns over regional energy supplies.

Saudi-led coalition warns Houthi attacks could threaten regional security

By Ali Hashem

Reporting from Doha, Qatar

    The Saudi-led coalition spokesperson linked this whole situation to the regional picture, saying that if the Houthis’ attacks on airports in Saudi Arabia continue, then this will have an impact on regional security.

    Major General Turki al-Maliki’s remarks today linked all these activities, all these attacks and all the attempts by the Houthis to launch rockets and take territory inside and outside Yemen to the control of the straits, to the control of the waterways.

    So, it’s all regionalised. This is how he presented it. Then he called on the Houthis to stop attacking Saudi airports.

    He also gave a toll for the Houthi attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, saying that 17 people were killed in attacks between October 7 and 11.

US Senator Sanders denounces Israel’s ‘collective punishment’ in Gaza, calls for end to US military aid

    US Senator Bernie Sanders criticised Israel’s policy of “collective punishment” of Gaza’s population by blocking the entry of aid, saying it “will starve children”.

    In a post on X, Sanders said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “extremist government” is cutting off food and shelter for 2 million people in Gaza.

    He added that Israel’s actions are “illegal and immoral”, calling for an end to using US taxpayer dollars “for these atrocities”.

    The US senator also called for an end to US military aid to Israel.

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Trump says won’t use nuclear weapons on Iran, US ground troops unlikely

    US President Donald Trump says he “would not use” nuclear weapons against Iran, adding he did not see “putting US troops on the ground” there.

    In an interview with Newsmax, Trump also said the US was talking to Russia and China about denuclearisation.

Two air strikes target Houthi positions in Yemen’s Taiz

    Two air strikes have targeted Houthi positions in the Dhi al-Barih and Jaba areas of al-Misrakh district, south of Taiz city, a Yemeni military source in the Taiz military command told Al Jazeera.

Houthis claim responsibility for attack on government headquarters in Aden

By Yousef Mawry

Reporting from Sanaa, Yemen

    The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, issued a statement earlier claiming responsibility for the attack on the government headquarters in Aden.

    Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesperson, said the building housed what he described as a “Saudi war operations room”, and that any Saudi military or economic presence on Yemeni land would be a legitimate target of the armed forces.

    The prime minister was reportedly unhurt in the attack. He took to social media, slamming the Ansar Allah group and calling this a “terrorist attack” aimed at disrupting state institutions and preventing or hindering the process of reversing what he called a “terrorist coup” against the internationally recognised Yemeni government.

    He asserted that Yemen’s military operation would continue despite this attack until “every square inch of Yemen” was liberated from the control of the group, referring to continued military operations until they recapture the Yemeni capital, which fell to the Houthis in 2014.

    On both sides, there seems to be a war of rhetoric, a war of narratives, in addition to the battles happening on the ground.

    Each side is claiming justification for its military actions, and each side is vowing to continue fighting until its goals are achieved.

    Houthi fighters have launched multiple missiles at Yemen’s presidential palace in the southern port city of Aden, killing two bodyguards of the prime minister.

    Smoke was seen rising near the al-Maashiq Palace, which serves as a headquarters for Yemen’s internationally recognised government.

    The prime minister and other government officials survived the attack, which officials have described as an assassination attempt.

Here’s what happened today

    As we wrap up our coverage for the day, here’s a recap of the key developments:

    At least five people were killed and 16 wounded in a Houthi attack on the presidential palace in Yemen’s southern city of Aden, according to the country’s health minister.

    Authorities in Yemen’s Marib governorate said the Houthis have fired nine ballistic missiles and seven other projectiles at residential neighbourhoods in the city.

    Saudi Arabia described Houthi attacks on its airports and oil facilities as “full-fledged war crimes”, while France said it has begun deploying military assets to help protect the kingdom’s energy infrastructure.

    US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington will continue imposing sanctions until Iran’s “coffers are empty”, after announcing measures targeting 16 individuals and 10 entities.

    Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to press Israel to halt its attacks and destruction in southern Lebanon.

    Israeli settlers wounded a Palestinian man in a shooting attack in Beit Ummar, north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.