Umm Al Quwain Families Face Beach Closures After Spill

For families in Umm Al Quwain who spent the weekend away from the shoreline they usually visit, the closure of every beach and coastal area in the emirate has become one of the most tangible consequences of a week of regional turbulence. A tanker oil spill that reached the emirate’s shoreline prompted the temporary closure, and Sharjah took the precaution of closing Al Hamriya Beach as well. Residents in Sharjah, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain who noticed unusual odours have been reassured by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment that the smells pose no health risk. Clean-up crews are now working along the affected coast.

For travellers across the UAE, the more immediate question this Saturday was simpler: is my flight still running? With schedules on regional routes still shifting, airlines and officials urged passengers to check with their carriers before setting out for the airport, rather than relying on last week’s timetable. The disruption is concentrated on one corridor in particular. Flights between the UAE and Saudi Arabia remain the most affected, and the cancellations touch some of the region’s busiest family and labour routes.

Etihad Airways has cancelled all Abu Dhabi flights to and from Dammam and Riyadh, along with Jeddah flights EY601 to EY604, through November 5. Emirates has scrapped several Dubai services to and from Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh, along with some Medina return flights, and codeshare flights with flydubai to and from Tel Aviv remain suspended. flydubai passengers face cancellations to Riyadh, Dammam and Abha until October 29, although some Jeddah, Madinah, Gassim and Tabuk services are still scheduled to operate. Air Arabia says several regional and international routes from Sharjah and Abu Dhabi are affected, including Saudi services. Iranian airlines’ flights to and from the UAE remain suspended until further notice.

There is some relief for travellers heading further afield. Up to 36 weekly flights between Dubai and Europe will resume from late October through December, and services to Athens and Manila are being restored. For anyone left stranded by a delay or cancellation, the advice is to complain first to the airline or travel agent, and if the response falls short, to escalate to the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority within 14 days. Not every disruption is tied to the regional situation; some may stem from operational or technical reasons. A fuller running update is available at https://gulfnews.com/uae/us-israel-iran-war-what-uae-residents-need-to-know-today-october-24-2026-1.500722388, where Gulf News is tracking the day’s developments and the latest schedules.

Meanwhile, behind the travel chaos, the day’s headlines were dominated by hardening rhetoric between Washington and Tehran. Iran said on Saturday that US military ships would not be allowed to enter the Gulf “under any circumstances,” with armed forces chief of staff Ali Abdollahi saying President Donald Trump would “take that dream to his grave,” according to Iranian state television. The comments followed a warning from US ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack that Washington could strike Iran as soon as this weekend.

The military machinery behind those words is already visible. The USS George Washington is being rearmed in the Arabian Sea, with sailors loading munitions including bunker-buster bombs and standoff land-attack missiles, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials. The weapons are suited to striking underground nuclear sites and heavily fortified military infrastructure.

Shipping crews, whose livelihoods depend on the region’s waterways, have felt the danger directly. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said two supertankers carrying more than 4.5 million barrels of crude struck naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, leaving both vessels disabled and abandoned by their crews. Separately, UKMTO reported that a tanker was hit by an unknown projectile near Limah, Oman, on October 22, though it was able to continue its voyage.

On land, Yemeni communities continued to bear the heaviest cost. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted two ballistic missiles launched by Yemen’s Houthis towards Taif and Yanbu on Saturday, after earlier intercepting a missile aimed at Riyadh, where two explosions were heard following an early warning alert, and downing a drone over the Eastern Province. Saudi airstrikes hit Sanaa, the Houthi-controlled capital, and the surrounding governorate, according to the group’s Al-Masirah broadcaster. It said a strike on a house in the west of the capital killed at least three people and wounded several others, a strike on a cement factory also caused casualties, and around 20 strikes hit Mocha. The tolls have not been independently confirmed.

Diplomats are still trying to pull the region back from the brink. Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey are meeting their UK, French and German counterparts in Istanbul to discuss Iran and Yemen, with Egypt urging de-escalation and US-Iran dialogue. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday, October 27, during a summit of gas-exporting countries.

Two warnings, however, point to risks that would land on ordinary people far from any frontline. Two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters that Tehran has drawn up plans to target undersea internet cables in the Gulf if the US and Israel launch fresh attacks. Analysts say the global impact could be limited, but damage could affect connectivity across the Gulf, the same networks residents, businesses and families rely on daily. And US national intelligence chief Jay Clayton warned on Friday that Iran has “substantially increased” efforts to target Americans in the Middle East and beyond. Washington this week ordered non-emergency embassy staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, a decision that has moved diplomats’ households out of the region even as others wait to see what comes next.