Yediot Aharanot: Yemenis humiliated the Saudis

The Hebrew media wrote: The Yemenis managed to clear the skies of Riyadh, while the failure of the Saudi defense systems was recorded.

According to Ambassador Arjan, Yediot Aharanot newspaper in a report discussed the inability of the Saudis to counter the missiles of the Yemeni armed forces and announced that the sky of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, has been emptied of airplanes today due to the Yemeni attacks.

The skies of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, were almost empty on Monday after authorities extended the suspension of flights at King Khalid International Airport following attacks by the Houthis (Yemen's armed forces) over the weekend and last day, the report said.

Since Saturday's missile attack on Halls 3 and 4, which killed 13 people and injured 309 others, this suspension has been extended many times and it is not yet clear when this airport, which is the second busiest airport in Saudi Arabia after Jeddah, will resume its activities. Another missile hit the airport yesterday, killing one person and injuring 10 others, and airport management announced this evening that the facility will remain closed until at least October 17.

In another part of the report, it is emphasized: the Houthis' (Yemen's armed forces) missile attacks on the airports of Saudi Arabia are considered a dangerous turning point in the multi-year war between the two sides, and the success of the Houthis in imposing an air blockade on Saudi Arabia is considered a severe humiliation for the authorities of this country, a humiliation for which there is no end in sight. These disruptions intensify the pressure on the aviation sector, which has suffered in recent years from the consequences of wars in the Middle East and a significant increase in fuel prices.

By mid-day, King Khalid International Airport was forced to cancel 82 percent of all flights scheduled for today, bringing the cancellation rate across all Saudi Arabian airports to 46.4 percent. Flight tracking app Flightradar24 showed that the planes were avoiding Riyadh today, although their flights continued in the rest of Saudi Arabia's airspace, landing at Jeddah airport on the country's west coast.

A number of international airlines have also canceled all their flights to and from Riyadh in the coming days, including companies affiliated with the Lufthansa Group, along with Air France and KLM.

Saudi Arabia has launched an investigation to understand how its air defense systems failed to intercept missiles and drones fired by the Houthis, two Middle East sources reported today. The two sources, who asked not to be named, said that preliminary investigations show that the Houthis initially fired a large number of drones to pave the way for cruise and ballistic missiles sent to King Khalid Airport. However, the question remains: Why didn't the air defense systems issue an early warning about this attack?

Saudi Arabia announced today that it is facing drones and cruise missiles fired from Yemen towards this country. Saudi Arabia still expects more direct American intervention in Riyadh's war against the Houthis (Yemen's armed forces), although the Americans are currently content with transferring information, determining targets, and assisting in the planning of Saudi Arabia's attacks and do not carry out direct attacks in Yemen.

Donald Trump, the (terrorist) president of the United States, indicated on Saturday that he may change his position in this regard and help Saudi Arabia in its war more effectively.

But according to Yediot Aharanot's admission: American intervention may force the Houthis to try to disrupt navigation in the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait - located at the southern end of the Red Sea in front of the coast of Yemen - which will further limit the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf.

This comes after oil supplies in the Middle East have been severely affected since last February, when Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz in response to a US-Israeli attack on it.

Before this war, about one-fifth of the world's oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz.

In recent days, the Houthis have intensified their attacks on Saudi Arabian cities and, in response to Saudi Arabian airstrikes against them, have increasingly focused on the country's airports to disrupt the Saudi aviation sector and "close its skies."

Since the beginning of last week, the Houthis have asked international airlines to refrain from flying in the skies of Saudi Arabia, stressing that the sky of this country is the "field" of their operations against Saudi Arabia, and that they are not responsible for the consequences of these companies' continued operations there.