Iran-backed Houthis test Mecca’s sacred shield - Semafor

WhatsApp groups and social media across Saudi Arabia lit up on Tuesday with variations of the same message: The Houthis are attacking Mecca. Photos of the Kaaba and prayers of “God protect this country” spread after Saudi civil defense issued an alert for Islam’s holiest city, the first since the war began, before lifting it minutes later. Some questioned whether it was an error or a test, while others condemned their “fellow Muslims” for threatening what is holy.

Over the past six months, there was a sense that Mecca would provide a shield for western Saudi Arabia. As sirens went off over Riyadh and the Eastern Province, people in the Hejaz assumed no one would dare approach what all Muslims deem sacred. Tuesday’s alert punctured that logic. While nothing was hit — Saudi authorities said a drone was intercepted — the taboo has been broken. Nothing is holy in war.