JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen on Thursday and air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
The attack was claimed by Yemen’s Huthi rebels.
It was the third time in as many days that Israel’s air defences intercepted a missile that the military said was fired from Yemen.
The Iran-backed Huthis said in a statement that they had targeted Tel Aviv’s international airport “with the help of a hypersonic ballistic missile“.
“Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted,“ an Israeli military statement said.
The Huthis have launched repeat attacks on Israel and shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since the start of the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023. They say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians.
In early May, a Huthi struck an area at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport, gouging a hole near its main terminal building and injuring several people in a rare penetration of Israeli air defences.
Israel retaliated by striking the airport in Yemen’s rebel-controlled capital Sanaa and three nearby power stations.
Israel’s army on Wednesday urged Yemenis to stay away from Huthi-held ports, in a likely warning of retaliation for recent missile launches. It issued a similar warning on Sunday, but no strikes have been reported since.
The United States last week reached a ceasefire agreement with the Huthis, ending weeks of intense US strikes on Yemen aimed at halting missile attacks on international shipping.
