The last time Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince was seen in public, he was giving blood for a national donation drive. That was on Tuesday. Since then, reports say, Mohammed bin Salman has been moved from one heavily guarded palace to another as Houthi attacks on the kingdom grow more intense.

The Crown Prince, 41, has not appeared in public since his blood donation. According to the Wall Street Journal, which cited officials familiar with his movements, he is being shuttled between palaces that are heavily guarded and fitted with bunkers.

A handpicked security team is also guarding him as fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi rebels has been heating up, and the security threats are escalating.

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia faced its worst attack in a decade. At least one Houthi missile hit the international airport in the capital. At least 13 people were killed, and at least 300 were injured, many of them seriously.

Officials briefed on the attack said it was the single deadliest strike on the US or its Gulf allies in the conflicts linked to the Iran war, the Wall Street Journal reported. They said a 28-year-old Egyptian flight attendant died of blood loss after her arm was blown off. She was one of several victims who lost limbs.

King Khalid International Airport has been closed since the missile attack at the weekend. It has been struck four times in the past five days. 

Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman warned the kingdom’s response would be “equally serious”, given how grave the attacks were.

US President Donald Trump has said he is considering joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis. Riyadh’s allies in the Mecca Pact have also voiced their support.

READ | Why Saudi Arabia’s $83 Billion Military Is Struggling Against Houthis

The two sides have been locked in a bitter civil war, with a fragile ceasefire agreed in 2022. That agreement collapsed in July this year, against the backdrop of the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The Houthis resumed their attacks after accusing the Saudis of firing on Sanaa airport while a plane from Iran was trying to land.

The Houthis are backed by Iran and are among its most heavily armed supporters in the region. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tehran was “deeply concerned about developments in the Arabian Peninsula”. He added that the fighting “will only benefit the Israeli regime”.

Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers spoke late on Sunday about the escalation. Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said he had warned against insisting on a military approach and ignoring the political situation. He said Tehran would help begin a dialogue between the Saudis and the Houthis.

The Saudis and the Houthis began fighting in 2015, when the kingdom entered Yemen’s civil war on behalf of the government.