The Red Cross called Tuesday for urgent de-escalation in the Middle East, warning that further fighting would be disastrous for tens of millions of civilians.

Yemen's civil war -- in which a Saudi-led military coalition supports the government against the Iran-backed Houthis -- reignited in July, months into the wider regional conflict that has roiled energy markets and plunged the Middle East into crisis.

The Saudi-led military coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said Tuesday that its forces intercepted three drones north of the capital Riyadh.

"Interception and destruction of 3 drones north of Riyadh city," Major General Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for the coalition, wrote on X.

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday urged pressure on Israel including potential economic consequences if it does not hold responsible troops behind a deadly 2023 strike on reporters in Lebanon.

A Reuters journalist was killed and two AFP reporters were seriously wounded when they came under fire in southern Lebanon close to the border with Israel on October 13, 2023.

Hezbollah MP Ibrahim al-Moussawi said that self-defense is "a natural right" after the army and security forces seized explosives suspected of belonging to Hezbollah, while rejecting claims that the group is planning assassinations.

"If it is true (that the explosives belong to Hezbollah), the resistance feels no shame," he said, adding that "self-defense is a natural right for the resistance as long as the attacks continue, Israeli forces remain on Lebanese soil, and the government and military are unable to confront them".

An Israeli high school student was killed and two dozen other people injured Monday by a suspected leftover Hezbollah bomb as they hiked near the Lebanese border, Israeli officials said.

Turkey's intelligence services on Monday said PKK militants had withdrawn from four key bases in northern Iraq, confirming a move announced by the Kurdish group last week.

"Four PKK hideouts in the Metina and Baze regions of northern Iraq were evacuated as of October 8," security sources said in a statement carried by state news agency Anadolu that was widely understood to be from Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT).

The European Union on Monday established a mission to help train Lebanon's cash-strapped armed forces as it struggles to assert control in the country.

The move comes as the mandate for the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon is set to expire -- but the EU insists its mission is not a replacement.

Saudi Arabia's civil aviation body Monday extended the suspension of operations at Riyadh's international airport following a series of deadly Houthi attacks.

"The General Authority of Civil Aviation has announced the extension of the suspension of operations at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh in order to complete the necessary procedures to verify the safety of the facilities and their operational readiness," the authority said in a statement, without specifying when operations would resume.

Saudi Arabia's energy minister acknowledged on Monday that the kingdom's infrastructure and resilience had been tested, as he vowed a firm response following a wave of deadly attacks by Yemen's Houthis.

The Houthi attacks over the weekend marked a sharp escalation in the Yemen war, where Saudi Arabia has long supported the internationally recognized government.

The European Union on Monday formally added almost 1,600 new individuals and entities to its sanctions blacklist over Russia's war on Ukraine, as it seeks to keep pressure on Moscow.

"This is the single largest expansion of our sanctions list since Russia started its war. Europe is again showing a united front. More than half are connected to the production chain for ballistic missiles," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.