JERUSALEM: Israel said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen on Tuesday, after air raid sirens sounded in several areas in Israel’s south.
Sirens went off in Beersheba and parts of the Negev desert, according to the Israeli military’s Home Front Command.
A military statement later said that “a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the IAF (air force) prior to crossing into Israeli territory”.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels later claimed responsibility for the attack, with a spokesman saying the group had targeted Israel’s Nevatim air base with a “hypersonic ballistic missile type Palestine 2”.
It was the first reported attack on Israel from Yemen since a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza came into force on January 19.
Israel army says intercepted missile launched from Yemen
The Houthis, who have targeted Israel before, condemned the resumption of strikes on Gaza on Tuesday, vowing escalation in support of Palestinians after threatening earlier this month to attack Israeli ships in the Red Sea.
The wave of Israeli strikes in Gaza, by far the deadliest since the truce took effect, killed more than 400 people, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run territory.
The Houthis’ supreme political council condemned in a statement “the Zionist enemy’s resumption of aggression against the Gaza Strip”.
“The Palestinian people will not be left alone in this battle, and Yemen will continue its support and assistance, and escalate confrontation steps,” it added.
The Houthis, part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” against the United States and Israel, have launched scores of drone and missile attacks on passing ships and Israeli territory during the Gaza war, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians.
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