Middle East live: Saudi Arabia accuses Houthi rebels of launching a drone strike on Mecca

BREAKING: Saudi Arabia says its air defences intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca, Islam's holiest city, calling pilgrims' security a 'red line.' The Houthis deny the attack.

Saudi Arabia says it shot down a Houthi drone just south of Mecca. Air defences intercepted it on Tuesday before it could enter the prohibited airspace over Islam's holiest city, the focal point of the hajj, where millions of pilgrims gather every year.

Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki called the security of pilgrims a red line and promised deterrent measures. He says this is the second attempt on Mecca, after a ballistic missile launch back in 2017. The Houthis deny the attack outright. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has already condemned it as heinous, and the US embassy is now telling Americans to reconsider travel to Saudi Arabia entirely.

And the region keeps tightening. Explosions were heard on Iran's Qeshm island near the Strait of Hormuz, reportedly from the direction of the sea. Washington, meanwhile, is moving a 2.8 billion dollar arms package for Israel, forty thousand one-ton bombs included.

A drone over Mecca, whoever sent it, is a line this war had not crossed before. Riyadh says it will respond firmly.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.