Israel says that it has shot down a missile that was launched against it by the Houthis from Yemen. They also stated that a barrage of missiles were fired at the port city of Eilat, in the southeast of the country from Yemen. This just a day after an Israeli strike on an oil storage unit near the port of Hodeidah in Yemen.
The Houthis have launched missiles and drones at Israel and disrupted global trade through the Red Sea in response to Israel’s assault on Gaza, further destabilising the Middle East as war in the Palestinian enclave rages on after nine months.
Israel says the Houthis have launched 200 attacks against it since the Gaza war began, many of them intercepted and most of them not deadly.
But a rare Houthi drone strike on Friday hit Tel Aviv and killed one person, prompting Israel to announce its first strikes against the group on Saturday. The strikes by warplanes hit near the Yemeni port of Hodeidah and killed six people, local medics said.
The Houthi movement, known formally as Ansar Allah, said on Sunday it would continue to attack Israel in response.
Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam told Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV there would be “no red lines … all sensitive institutions … will be a target for us.”
The Israeli military said its Arrow 3 missile defence system had shot down a surface-to-surface missile projectile launched from Yemen on Sunday before it crossed into Israeli territory.
Before the interception, air raid sirens sounded in the Red Sea port city of Eilat, sending residents running for shelter.
Sunday’s attack prolonged an escalation of violence between Israel and the Houthis that began with the Houthi drone strike that hit the centre of Tel Aviv on Friday. One man was killed and four other people were wounded, officials said.
The Israeli warplanes’ air raid on Hodeidah on Saturday killed six people and wounded more than 80, medical sources in Yemen told Reuters, describing the casualties as civilians. Israeli officials claim that Hodeidah port has been used by the Houthis to receive weapons shipments from Iran.
(With inputs from Reuters)
