UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg told the Security Council on Friday that Yemen had slid back into full-scale war, with hostilities spreading across multiple front lines. More than 200,000 people have been displaced since early August, and the UN counts at least 46 civilians killed and more than 130 injured since then, with children suffering a disproportionate toll. Grundberg condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi civilian and energy infrastructure, including Abha and King Khalid International airports, and said: "Unless war is to become Yemen’s permanent reality, the time to consider political strategies is now." Saudi Arabia’s representative said the council must address a dangerous escalation; Yemen’s government envoy said the Houthi threat was no longer an internal Yemeni affair. Turkey condemned the airport attacks.

[Al Jazeera via Yahoo] [The National via UA.News] [Türkiye Today]

The Saudi-led coalition announced late on Friday that it had destroyed 136 Houthi military targets in what spokesman Turki al-Maliki called a large-scale operation against the group’s personnel and ballistic missile network, with airstrikes reported on Sanaa. Fighting also intensified around the Bab el-Mandeb between Houthi forces and government troops. It is the largest single coalition strike figure in this archive, following 82 targets on October 7. The figures are the coalition’s own and have not been independently assessed.

[Xinhua] [CGTN]

Oil prices eased into Friday after both sides acknowledged that talks were happening, a Deutsche Bank note said. That followed Trump’s pledge of no strikes before the midterms and Araghchi’s statement that Iran was reviewing the US proposal and would respond within days. No reply had been reported by the end of the day.

[CNBC]

Several Thursday events were not in the Day 223 brief. They are recorded here under their correct date. Riyadh airport deaths: Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said three Saudi nationals, including a pilot, were killed in two Houthi attacks on King Khalid International Airport; the coalition vowed a firm response. Sanctions: the Treasury sanctioned individuals, networks and 17 vessels it called the remnants of Iran’s shadow fleet. Iran’s reply: Araghchi said messages were still being exchanged through intermediaries and that Iran would reply within days. Routes: a senior regional diplomat briefed by Tehran told Reuters that Iran has plans ready to block oil-export routes some regional countries use, and would treat new routes as hostile. Defence Secretary Hegseth said the US is not seeking nation-building or ground occupation in Iran.

[CNBC] [CBS] [JPost/Reuters] [Gulf News]

Tracker status holds at WAR RESUMED. Day 224 is a quiet day between Washington and Tehran and a loud one in Yemen. The no-strike pledge holds, Iran’s reply is pending, and oil eased on the sense that talking continues. Meanwhile the UN calls Yemen a full-scale war again, the coalition is striking at a scale not seen before in this conflict, and three people have been killed at Riyadh’s airport. No ceasefire is in force.