Saudi Arabia’s top cleric has issued a rare statement, calling on the kingdom’s troops to defend the country from neighboring Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Yemen is deteriorating as fighting escalates, further straining the country’s overstretched health sector. In New York, the wars in Iran and Gaza have dominated the agenda at the UN General Assembly, where the leaders of Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt were scheduled to address the United Nations later Friday. Here is a look at the latest news from the Middle East. Top religious figure urges Saudi troops to be ready to defend the kingdom With Saudi oil facilities, cities and ships off its coast coming under escalating attacks, the kingdom’s top religious authority has called on soldiers to be prepared to defend the country from Iran-backed Houthis. The strongly worded statement from Grand Mufti Sheikh Saleh al-Fawzan, who traditionally avoids weighing in on politics in a country that holds enormous influence among Muslims worldwide, is a rare message on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East from the kingdom’s top religious authority. Al-Fawzan addressed his message to soldiers defending the kingdom’s borders and members of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen, peppering it with Quranic verses and religious edicts. “Protecting this great nation, guarding its borders, defending against aggression and punishing those who want to harm any inch of it is one of the greatest duties ... where lives are sacrificed for the sake of God,” he said. The Saudi Press Agency carried the statement late Thursday. Saudi Arabia has said it intercepted a number of missiles launched at the kingdom but has struggled, along with its allies, to contain the Houthis. Two Israeli soldiers are killed in Gaza Israel’s military said two of its soldiers were killed in northern Gaza on Thursday while inspecting an unexploded Israeli drone near a military post. They were the first Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza in months. The drone exploded as the soldiers approached it, the military said Friday. They were evacuated to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead. The military called the explosion “a serious safety incident” and identified the soldiers as Ofek Moalem and Nadav Kali. It said the incident was under investigation. Previously, five Israeli soldiers have been killed since last October’s ceasefire that attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and the militant Hamas group. While the heaviest fighting has subsided, the ceasefire has seen almost daily Israeli fire. Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones and have killed 1,408 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. Hospitals in Yemen struggle as the country’s civil war reignites The human toll of renewed hostilities in Yemen has stretched beyond the battlefield, overwhelming a health system already battered by years of war. More than 130,000 people have fled their homes as fighting escalates between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces. Fewer than 10 per cent of health centers in affected areas are equipped to provide the trauma care wounded people need, according to the World Health Organization. Years of war have left Yemen’s hospitals with little capacity. Children are sharing emergency room beds, pregnant women are being turned away from health centers and medical supplies are running low. The most recent round of fighting began in July after the Houthis declared a blockade on Saudi ships in the key Bab el-Mandeb strait, adding to pressure on global trade already disrupted by the war in Iran and the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. Former UNRWA chief defends agency’s role in Gaza The UN agency for Palestinians has met behind the scenes with officials from the U.S.-created Board of Peace, though the board has declared that the agency — known as UNRWA — will have no role in a future Gaza. Publicly, UNRWA has not been included in the board’s planning for the territory’s postwar future. But Philippe Lazzarini, the UN agency’s last chief, told The Associated Press that members of a Palestinian technocratic committee are clear they want to work with the agency. “They know that if you get completely rid of the agency today, it might have a further additional devastating impact on the population,” Lazzarini said. The dynamic underscores how central UNRWA remains to addressing Gaza’s humanitarian crisis during the fragile ceasefire, even as Israel has sought to marginalize it. Israel alleges the agency has been infiltrated by Hamas militants, claims the International Court of Justice has said have not been substantiated. ___ The Associated Press
