Yemen’s Houthis say they fired ballistic missiles toward Israel | Israel-Palestine conflict news
Israeli authorities say a missile was intercepted near Eilat after the Houthi leader earlier vowed to continue the attacks.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have launched ballistic missiles at several Israeli targets, including the Red Sea city of Eilat, the group’s military spokesman said.
The announcement came “after 24 hours of another military operation with drones on the same Israeli targets,” the spokesman said on Tuesday.
Israel’s military said it intercepted a missile near the Red Sea.
Israel said it used its “Arrow” air defense system to shoot down a missile on Tuesday after a siren sounded in the port city of Eilat. Israel says the projectile did not enter its territory, and has not said who fired it.
Earlier, the leader of Yemen’s Houthis said that his group would continue to launch attacks against Israel.
“Our eyes are open to regularly monitor and detect any Israeli ship in the Red Sea, especially in Bab al-Mandab, and near Yemeni territorial waters,” said Abdul-Malik al -Houthi, leader of the Iran-backed group.
The Houthis have launched a series of missile and drone attacks against Israel since October 7, when Hamas fighters from the besieged Gaza Strip attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities.
Since the Hamas attack, Israel has invaded Gaza and launched a ground offensive. More than 11,200 people were killed in the attack on Israel, including more than 4,600 children, according to the Palestinian authorities.
The war in Gaza has raised tensions across the region, with international organizations and political leaders warning of a possible wider war across the region.
The Iranian-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has exchanged fire with Israeli forces across the Lebanese-Israeli border, and Iranian-backed armed groups have targeted US forces in Syria and Iraq. The United States has carried out strikes in Syria in response.
The Houthis have emerged as a major player in the Arabian Peninsula, despite efforts to disperse them with the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen that began in 2015 with US support.
The Saudi bombing was criticized for contributing to the humanitarian disaster in the country and causing many civilian casualties, and the Houthis eventually expanded their control over areas in northern Yemen.
The war in Yemen has reached an uneasy stalemate, with fighting not stopping even as both sides failed to renew a UN-backed ceasefire that ended in October.
