The Israeli military on Monday announced that it successfully intercepted a missile launched from Yemen, marking the latest in a series of attacks attributed to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
According to the IDF, the missile, which triggered air-raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv, was stopped before it entered Israeli territory.
According to emergency services provider Magen David Adom, no casualties have been reported. Pieces of the Yemeni ballistic missile that was fired at Israel from Yemen landed in Beit Shemesh, close to Jerusalem.
This incident follows a similar interception on Saturday and comes amid heightened hostilities since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October last year. The Houthi rebels have declared their missile and drone attacks on Israel and Red Sea shipping lanes as acts of solidarity with Palestinians.
The Houthis have intensified their attacks in recent weeks after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, another Iran-backed group in Lebanon, in November. The Houthis recently claimed responsibility for a missile attack on Tel Aviv that injured 16 people.
In retaliation, Israel conducted multiple airstrikes targeting Houthi-controlled infrastructure, including Sanaa’s international airport, power stations, and key ports such as Hodeida on Thursday.
These sites were allegedly facilitating smuggling of Iranian weapons and the movement of Iranian officials into the region.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier reaffirmed his government’s commitment to counter Houthi aggression, stating that military operations against them would “continue until the job is done.”
“We are determined to cut this branch of terrorism from the Iranian axis of evil,” he said in a video statement last week.
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz had also reiterated this sentiment, pledging to target Houthi leadership in Yemen.
The United States and Britain have also conducted strikes on Houthi targets many times this year in response to assaults on global shipping routes in the Red Sea.
At a United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday, Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon vowed a decisive response to ongoing Houthi aggression.
