عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Gulf

Saudi Aid to Palestine Amounts to $6 Billion in 17 Years

KSRelief General Supervisor Abdullah Al-Rabeeah holds a meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York. (SPA)
KSRelief General Supervisor Abdullah Al-Rabeeah holds a meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York. (SPA)
TT
TT

Saudi Aid to Palestine Amounts to $6 Billion in 17 Years

KSRelief General Supervisor Abdullah Al-Rabeeah holds a meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York. (SPA)
KSRelief General Supervisor Abdullah Al-Rabeeah holds a meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York. (SPA)

Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, Advisor to the Royal Court and General Supervisor of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) said that the total amount of aid provided by Saudi Arabia to the Palestinian people over the last 17 years exceeded $6 billion (23 billion Saudi riyals), in addition to the assistance offered by the National Committee for the Relief of the Palestinian People.
 
In a press statement, the Saudi official noted that the Kingdom has provided “ongoing and extensive support” to the people of Palestine, adding that between 2000 and 2018, Saudi aid and development support has exceeded $6 billion.
 
Among the Kingdom’s partners in delivering assistance in Palestine are various UN agencies, the Saudi National Committee for the Relief of the Palestinian People, and national and international NGOs, according to Rabeeah.
 
He added that Saudi Arabia has provided aid to the Palestinian people in several assistance categories, which included development aid, exceeding $4.5 billion, humanitarian aid, nearly reaching $1.1 billion, and philanthropic assistance that amounted to $17.3 million.
 
An amount of $200 million was also pledged by the Kingdom, including $50 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and $150 million to support the Palestinian Waqf Program in Jerusalem.
 
Rabeeah underlined that the most important development assistance provided by the Kingdom was a $263.17 million project to build and renovate housing units in Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as well as Ain Al Hilweh and Nahr Al Bared refugee camps.
 
The Kingdom also funded a $107 million housing project in Rafah (Phase I), implemented through UNRWA, for the construction of an integrated residential city, including 752 housing units for 4,564 people, four schools, a health center, a cultural center, a mall, a mosque, paved roads, street lights and water supply facilities.
 
Phase II of the same Rafah project included 765 housing units for 4,761 people, two schools, a mosque, and electricity and water supply infrastructure.
 
Saudi Arabia’s programs to assist the Palestinians were provided either directly by the Kingdom, or in collaboration with KSrelief’s partners, including international organizations and UN agencies such as UNRWA, WFP, UNICEF, UNFPA, and UNESCO, the Saudi official said.

Most Viewed

 
 
Gulf

Saudi FM Receives Phone Call from Japanese Counterpart Condemning Houthi Attacks on Saudi Arabia

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah during a visit to Washington in September 2026. (Getty Images/AFP)
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah during a visit to Washington in September 2026. (Getty Images/AFP)
TT
TT

Saudi FM Receives Phone Call from Japanese Counterpart Condemning Houthi Attacks on Saudi Arabia

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah during a visit to Washington in September 2026. (Getty Images/AFP)
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah during a visit to Washington in September 2026. (Getty Images/AFP)

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah received a phone call from Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Toshimitsu Motegi.

During the call, the two sides discussed the terrorist Houthi militia's attacks against the Kingdom.

The Japanese foreign minister expressed his country's strong condemnation of these repeated attacks targeting airports and civilian facilities in the Kingdom, SPA reported.

The two ministers also reviewed cooperation relations between the two friendly countries and discussed the latest regional and international developments, as well as ways to enhance coordination and cooperation to ensure energy security and freedom and safety of navigation in regional and international waterways.

Gulf

Saudi Air Defenses Thwart Cruise Missile Threats

The Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces effectively counter the threats posed by cruise missiles (Ministry of Defense)
The Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces effectively counter the threats posed by cruise missiles (Ministry of Defense)
TT
TT

Saudi Air Defenses Thwart Cruise Missile Threats

The Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces effectively counter the threats posed by cruise missiles (Ministry of Defense)
The Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces effectively counter the threats posed by cruise missiles (Ministry of Defense)

Saudi air defense forces have successfully countered various types of aerial attacks targeting several parts of the Kingdom, particularly cruise missiles, demonstrating their high level of combat readiness and exceptional ability to safeguard national security. Their performance underscores the strength of an integrated defense system designed to protect civilian facilities and critical infrastructure against cross-border threats.

In recent weeks, Saudi forces have intercepted several cruise missiles, most recently on Thursday over Madinah and another over Al-Kharj Governorate. They also intercepted five missiles targeting the capital, Riyadh, including one aimed at the vicinity of King Khalid International Airport.

Although the successful interceptions over residential areas sent debris falling to the ground, causing limited damage to approximately 15 homes and minor injuries among civilians, the missiles failed to achieve their intended destructive objectives, thanks to the operational readiness of Saudi air defense systems.

Advanced Capabilities and Integrated Defense

The Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces have demonstrated their ability to counter the challenges posed by cruise missiles and low-altitude aerial threats, drawing on an integrated and interconnected air defense network considered among the most advanced and capable in the region.

Saudi Arabia has developed sophisticated capabilities to counter such threats through a multilayered approach built over the years. This includes surveillance and early warning systems capable of detecting difficult-to-identify threats, precision interception systems designed to track and destroy cruise missiles and drones, and short- and medium-range air defense systems that protect critical facilities, airports and urban areas against potential breaches.

Understanding the Threat and the Challenges of Detection

A cruise missile is essentially a one-way unmanned aircraft resembling a small fighter jet in its design. Powered by a jet engine, either a turbofan or turbojet, it can travel long distances, potentially covering thousands of kilometers.

Cruise missiles pose a complex challenge for air defense networks because of their small radar signatures and ability to fly at extremely low altitudes, allowing them to remain below the radar horizon of conventional ground-based systems until relatively late in their flight.

Brig. Gen. Hassan Al-Shehri, a military analyst and expert, explained that a cruise missile is a guided weapon powered by a jet engine and equipped with wings, flying through the atmosphere much like a one-way attack drone. Its extremely low flight altitude makes it difficult for radar systems to detect.

"The strengths of cruise missiles lie in their high precision, the ability to program flight paths that circumvent air defenses, and their small radar signatures," Al-Shehri said.

He noted that several countries are prominent manufacturers of these weapons, including the United States, China, France and Britain, which produce different families of cruise missiles.

Among the leading air defense systems capable of intercepting such weapons, Al-Shehri highlighted the Patriot system, deployed in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.

He explained that the mobile system is designed to intercept aircraft, low-flying cruise missiles and tactical ballistic missiles, alongside other air defense capabilities.

"More important than the system itself are airborne early warning aircraft, which Saudi Arabia also possesses, in addition to fighter jets capable of engaging cruise missiles flying at low altitudes below the horizon of ground-based radars," he said.

"Detecting these missiles early requires airborne radar."

Al-Shehri praised Saudi Arabia's advanced air defense capabilities, emphasizing that the Kingdom operates a multilayered defense network capable of responding to different types of threats.

He also pointed to the role of fighter aircraft, airborne early warning platforms and the extensive combat experience accumulated by Saudi air defense forces, which have successfully intercepted most of the threats originating from the Houthi militia or from Iran and Iraq.

Al-Shehri said battlefield data and evidence contradict the Houthis' claims that they manufacture these weapons domestically.

He noted that the United Nations Panel of Experts on Yemen had presented evidence beginning in 2020 showing that some components of the Quds-1 cruise missile were based on an unlicensed copy of a small Czech-made jet engine.

He added that available information suggested the missile may have been developed using advanced Chinese technology, while some assessments indicated that the Quds-1 was merely the Houthi designation for Iran's Paveh missile, citing what he described as identical appearance and design.

According to Al-Shehri, the high manufacturing quality of these missiles suggests that they are produced entirely outside Yemen.

He said their designs and sensitive components, particularly engines and guidance systems, originate from multiple sources, principally Iran, China and Russia.

The military expert maintained that the Houthi militia lacks the sophisticated manufacturing capabilities required to produce such weapons independently.

He said personnel from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Lebanon's Hezbollah carry out the actual operation and launch of the missiles, alongside Houthi members who previously underwent intensive training in Iran and southern Lebanon.

Regarding how the weapons reach Yemen, Al-Shehri explained that the process relies on organized smuggling and financing networks.

Missiles manufactured abroad are shipped into Yemen as separate parts and components before being assembled in designated clandestine workshops and facilities.

This process, he said, has enabled some Houthi operatives to acquire practical experience in assembly and installation techniques, exceeding their more limited expertise in launching the weapons.

Concluding his remarks, Al-Shehri said the militia had recently suffered heavy personnel and technical losses, including the deaths of several Iranian experts responsible for overseeing these systems.

He said those losses had directly affected the militia's operational effectiveness, resulting in the failure of more than four missile launches in the past week alone, with the missiles falling back onto Yemeni territory.

Gulf

Coalition: Houthis Must Immediately Halt Terrorist Attacks on Civilian Facilities

Coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki in a press conference in Riyadh addressing the Houthi attacks - SPA
Coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki in a press conference in Riyadh addressing the Houthi attacks - SPA
TT
TT

Coalition: Houthis Must Immediately Halt Terrorist Attacks on Civilian Facilities

Coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki in a press conference in Riyadh addressing the Houthi attacks - SPA
Coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki in a press conference in Riyadh addressing the Houthi attacks - SPA

The Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen has called for an immediate halt to Houthi attacks on civilian facilities.

Coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki said the Iran-backed Houthis had carried out 20 attacks on Riyadh airport in October, stressing that the group must immediately cease its terrorist operations against civilian facilities.

At a press conference in Riyadh, Al-Maliki presented a list of attacks targeting the airport this month.

"The Houthis must immediately halt all terrorist operations targeting civilians and civilian objects, including airports, ports, oil facilities and infrastructure," he said.

Al-Maliki added that the Houthi militia had sought to acquire advanced technologies with the assistance of regional actors, noting that the group possesses ballistic missiles, attack and suicide drones, and explosive-laden speedboats.

Meanwhile, the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen continued to intercept Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, announcing that it had intercepted and destroyed a drone in the Eastern Province after intercepting and destroying a ballistic missile launched by the Houthi militia toward Riyadh.

The Saudi General Directorate of Civil Defense also reported that debris from the interception of a ballistic missile fell in Riyadh, injuring an Arab resident and causing limited material damage to a home and a vehicle.