Houthi rebels claim Israel attack

Tehran, Mar. 29: Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a missile attack on Israel as the war in the Middle East marks its one-month anniversary.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, issued a statement on Saturday on the rebel group's Al-Masirah satellite television network. He said the Houthis fired a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting what he described as "sensitive Israeli military sites" in southern Israel.

Israel's military had earlier said it had intercepted a missile. The attack came after Saree signaled in a vague statement on Friday that the rebels would join the war.

It is the first time Israel has faced fire from Yemen since the start of the conflict last month. Houthi attacks on vessels during the Israel-Hamas war upended shipping in the Red Sea.

Before the attack from Yemen, there appeared to be a breakthrough as Tehran agreed to allow humanitarian aid and agricultural shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has visited the UAE and met with his Emirati counterpart, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to discuss regional security in the Middle East.

"For Ukraine, this is also a matter of principle: terror must not prevail anywhere in the world. Protection must be sufficient everywhere," Zelenskyy said in a post on X following his meeting with the Emirati leader. He said they had discussed "the security situation in the Emirates, Iranian strikes, and the blockade of the Strait of 

Hormuz, which directly affects the global oil market."

The Emirates News Agency said the two leaders discussed "security developments in the region amid ongoing military escalation and their implications for regional and international peace and security, as well as their impact on international navigation and the global economy."

Zelenskyy said last week that Kyiv is helping five countries in the Middle East and Gulf region — the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan — to counter drone attacks on their territory.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday he has held "extensive discussions" with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on the ongoing regional hostilities and efforts aimed at end war.

Pezeshkian was briefed on Pakistan's diplomatic efforts made by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir to engage the United States as well as Gulf and other Islamic countries to help create conditions conducive to peace talks, Sharif's office said in a statement.

Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. 5th Fleet, said Saturday its air defense systems have responded to 20 missile and 23 drone attacks in the past 24 hours.

That brings the total number of projectiles fired at the Shiite majority country to 174 missiles and 385 drones since the start of the war in the Middle East on Feb. 28.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has sharply criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for his course of action in the Iran conflict, the dpa news agency reported.

"What Trump is doing right now is not de-escalation and an attempt to reach a peaceful solution, but a massive escalation with an uncertain outcome," Merz said late Friday at an event in Frankfurt.

"These are escalations that are threatening," he added. "Not only for those directly affected, but for all of us."

An airstrike hit the grounds of Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant just before midnight, the country's atomic energy agency reported.

The strike, which was the third in 10 days, did not cause any material damage and there were no casualties, according to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. It said no technical disruption was reported at the site.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was notified of the strike by Iran. An airstrike hit Iran's University of Science and Technology in Tehran on Saturday, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will attend talks in Islamabad aimed at ending the war between the United States and Iran and easing regional tensions, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and officials said Saturday.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty will arrive Sunday for a two-day visit to "hold in-depth discussions on a range of issues, including efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region," according to a statement.

The casualty toll from a missile attack early Saturday in Abu Dhabi has risen to six. The Abu Dhabi Media Office said an additional Pakistani national was injured by falling debris in the vicinity of Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi when air defense systems intercepted a ballistic missile.

The Kuwait International airport was hit by drone attacks on Saturday, authorities said. The Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement that the attacks severely damaged the airport's radar systems.

An Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinian brothers Saturday morning in the Gaza Strip, hospital authorities said. The strike hit the men close to the Showa roundabout in Gaza City's Shijaiyah neighborhood, according to the Al-Ahly hospital.

The area is close to the so-called Yellow Line which separates Israeli-controlled areas across the Gaza Strip from the rest of the enclave. Israel's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a missile attack on Israel, their first since the war in the Middle East started. 

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, issued the claim in a statement aired Saturday morning by the rebels' Al-Masirah satellite television. The Israeli military said it intercepted the missile. (AP)