Israeli strike in Lebanon kills 9 as Hormuz and Yemen tensions deepen

Dubai,UPDATED: Sep 7, 2026 18:04 IST

Israeli airstrikes on a village in southern Lebanon killed nine people, including a child, Lebanon's Health Ministry said on Sunday, as tensions continued across the Middle East.

In Yemen, Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they had shot down a Saudi military surveillance aircraft, while in the Gulf, a senior United Arab Emirates official said "no single state" should control the Strait of Hormuz after Iran said it would announce a new "exclusion zone" near the waterway.

The Houthis said early on Monday that they downed the Saudi aircraft in northern Yemen as fighting with Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces continued. Houthi military spokesperson Brig Gen Yahya Saree said in a statement that the aircraft was detected in the airspace over Jawf province.

Saree said the aircraft belonged to Saudi Arabia and was seeking to carry out "hostile actions". The Associated Press said it could not independently verify the claim, and there was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.

He also said three Saudi reconnaissance drones had been downed in the past 24 hours, including one spotted on Monday morning in Bayda province.

The Yemeni government armed forces said on X that they had targeted Houthi gatherings in Dahle province and carried out 13 airstrikes on Houthi positions and a missile launch base in Bayda province. Other airstrikes targeted Houthi fronts in Marib province. The Houthi military did not address those claims.

Separately, Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said at a forum of world leaders in Abu Dhabi that "no single state" should control the Strait of Hormuz. His remarks came after Iran said it planned to announce a new "exclusion zone" near the waterway aimed at vessels intending to transit.

"Our energy exports will not be held hostage, nor will our trade and economic activity," Gargash said. He added that Iran should face consequences for threatening oil tankers and commercial vessels in the strait with mines, drones or missiles, saying, "Using an international waterway as an instrument of coercion is unacceptable."

Gargash also said rebuilding trust between Iran and Gulf countries could take decades because, by targeting its neighbours, Tehran had "demolished" any presumption of good faith. The UAE, a close US ally, has repeatedly come under Iranian missile and drone fire during the war.

The latest developments in the region included the reported Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, the Houthis' claim over a Saudi aircraft in Yemen, and the UAE's warning that trade and energy routes through the Strait of Hormuz must not be threatened.

With PTI Inputs

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