Saudi-Led Coalition Downs Houthi Missile Amid Intensified Fighting in Yemen's Al-Jawf

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen announced on Monday that its air defenses successfully intercepted a Houthi missile, as fierce fighting persists along critical fronts between the armed group and forces aligned with Yemen's internationally recognized government. Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki stated that air defenses "intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile" aimed at Saudi Arabia's southern region. This follows an earlier report from al-Maliki on Sunday evening about the destruction of a drone targeting the same region. The Saudi Civil Defence authority issued and subsequently lifted alerts concerning potential dangers in Abha and the provinces of Khamis Mushait, Taif, and Najran, advising residents against sharing information about missile and drone attacks.

Meanwhile, in Yemen, Houthi-affiliated media reported that seven individuals were injured in Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on Hodeidah. Four were wounded at the Ras Isa port dock, and three others sustained injuries at an oil company site in the Bajil district. The Saudi-led coalition has not commented on these reports.

The ongoing clashes coincide with Yemeni government forces' efforts to reclaim territory from the Iran-aligned Houthis in the strategically important northern governorate of al-Jawf. Colonel Majed Abdullah al-Nazili, a spokesman for the Yemeni army, reported that government forces conducted 1,272 "targeting operations" against Houthi fighters, positions, and weaponry within a 24-hour period. Operations are actively underway in al-Jawf, as well as in neighboring Marib and al-Bayda to the south. Al-Nazili claimed that approximately 500 Houthi fighters were killed and nearly 170 vehicles, equipment, or heavy weapons were destroyed or disabled, though Al Jazeera could not independently verify these claims.

In the southwest of the country, the Houthis continue their siege of Taiz, restricting the flow of essential food, fuel, and medical supplies, exacerbating what authorities describe as a growing humanitarian crisis. Taiz Governor Nabil Shamsan has appealed for urgent assistance for the city's struggling health facilities, noting that 120 health centers have ceased operations and an additional 66 are on the verge of closure due to supply route blockades imposed by the Houthis since early October. Nour al-D. al-Mansouri, a committee member for the Taiz Siege Affairs Office, informed Al Jazeera that at least 23 trucks were damaged or overturned in the past two weeks while attempting to use alternative routes to Taiz. Taiz is Yemen's third-largest city, with a population of approximately one million people out of the country's total of around 43 million.

Full-scale conflict reignited in Yemen in September, marked by significant Houthi advances that strengthened their control over the Red Sea coast. In response, Yemen's internationally recognized government launched "Operation Dawn of Yemen" last month to recapture Houthi-held territories and re-establish government authority over areas seized by the group, which took control of the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.