Israeli army says intercepts cruise missile fired at south of country

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: The Israeli military on Wednesday said it intercepted a cruise missile fired towards the south of the country.

After reports of “an infiltration by a hostile aircraft” near the southern Red Sea resort of Eilat, an Israeli fighter jet “successfully intercepted a cruise missile that was launched toward Israel”, it said in a statement.

“No infiltration into Israeli territory was identified,” the military added.

Yemen’s Huthi rebels, who have declared themselves part of the “axis of resistance” of Iran’s allies and proxies, have fired a series of drones and missiles towards Israel since the Gaza war erupted on October 7 when Hamas carried out the worst attack in Israel’s 75-year history.

On October 20, a US Navy ship in the Red Sea shot down three missiles and several drones fired by Huthi rebels in an attack which the Pentagon said was likely aimed at Israel.

On November 9, the Israeli military said its Arrow 3 missile defence system had for the first time destroyed a “target” heading towards Israel from the Red Sea, shortly after Huthi rebels confirmed said they had fired “a barrage of ballistic missiles” at southern Israel.

And on Sunday, the rebels said they had seized the Galaxy Leader, an Israel-linked cargo vessel in what they said was retaliation for Israel’s Gaza war.

The conflict was sparked by the October 7 attacks when Hamas stormed over the border, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.

Since then, Gaza’s Hamas-run government says more than 14,000 people have been killed in Israel’s aerial bombardment and ground operations in Gaza, two thirds of them women and children.