Riyadh’s international airport stopped all takeoffs and landings shortly after noon local time on Thursday after several explosions, according to flight tracker Flightradar24. Fire and ambulance crews were deployed at the airport, where smoke was visible. A witness reported hearing several blasts across the Saudi capital, including a large one at the airport itself, and described a terminal crowded with stranded passengers. The witness spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The disruption to operations was immediate. Outgoing flights were halted. Passengers were instructed to evacuate and told to leave all checked-in luggage behind. It was not immediately clear how many flights were affected.
The cause of the explosions was not immediately known and there was no claim of responsibility. Saudi authorities did not respond to requests for comment. The blasts came at a time when Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have been targeting Saudi airports and oil installations as part of a broader campaign against the kingdom’s infrastructure.
Meanwhile, a British-run maritime tracking operation reported a separate attack on shipping in the Persian Gulf. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said several projectiles struck a tanker off the coast of Qatar, north of the city of Madinat ash Shamal on the country’s northern tip, causing multiple casualties. The British military, which reported the strike late Wednesday, did not identify the tanker or provide details about the casualties. There was no immediate claim of responsibility and no comment from Qatar.
Diplomatic infrastructure in Jerusalem is also being restructured. Britain said it reached an agreement with Israel’s government to downgrade its consulate in east Jerusalem, demoting it to what will now be known as the U.K. Mission. The consulate sign outside the building has been removed, and a small team of diplomats will continue to operate there.
The change follows Israel’s announcement last month that it would close the consulate in response to the United Kingdom banning trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a statement that the consulate had “ceased to function as a consulate,” and that twenty British diplomats will leave Israel while the building continues to operate with seven diplomats engaged in limited activity. “Israel will no longer turn its cheek to diplomatic attacks against it,” he said.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband denied the building will close and said it will be known as the U.K. Mission. He said the seven diplomats remaining will continue to work with Palestinians, though he gave no details. Britain said that based on the current agreement it would not take reciprocal action, such as expelling Israeli diplomats from London.
In Beirut, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Thursday that the bloc is preparing a “support mission” to train and advise Lebanon’s army and security forces. Kallas, speaking during a visit to Beirut, said Lebanese authorities formally asked the EU for the mission and that she expects it to be set up by EU foreign ministers on Monday. She stressed it will not replace U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, whose mandate expires at the end of the year.
Lebanese officials have previously pushed to extend the mandate of the U.N. force known as UNIFIL, but extension seems unlikely to pass a vote at the U.N. Security Council. Delivery of security on the ground remains uncertain: after the latest Israel-Hezbollah war, much of southern Lebanon is occupied by Israeli forces, and an agreement to transfer control from Israel to the Lebanese army has largely stalled. The exit of U.N. peacekeepers has raised concerns that Israel might extend its occupation and that the Iran-backed Hezbollah militants could exploit the security vacuum.
In Israel, Maj. Gen. Avi Gil, who served as military secretary from 2021 to 2024, accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of attempting to alter official transcripts of phone calls from the morning of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks. In excerpts of a wide-ranging interview with the right-wing Israel Hayom newspaper published Thursday, Gil said the attempt, allegedly made by Netanyahu’s chief of staff, may have been aimed at shifting blame for that morning’s failures from the prime minister to his advisers. Gil said he reported it to the attorney general.
Gil also confirmed that a senior Egyptian intelligence official visited Israel shortly before the Oct. 7 attack. Asked whether there had been a warning, he said he did not know what message was relayed, adding: “Whoever met with someone or received something is still concealing it today.” His full interview is expected to be published over the weekend, with an Israeli TV interview also planned.
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, is seeking re-election on Oct. 27. His Likud party told Israel Hayom that Gil’s comments are part of an attempt to oust him from power, the paper said. Whether the airport in Riyadh resumes operations, and how quickly, remains the most immediate open question.