JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said on Sunday (Jan 5) it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen, the latest in a series of recent attacks.
“Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in Talmei Elazar, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted prior to crossing into Israeli territory,” the military said in a statement posted to Telegram.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who control much of northern Yemen including the capital Sanaa, said in a statement on Sunday they had launched “a hypersonic ballistic missile” targeting a power station south of the Israeli city of Haifa.
On Friday, Israel’s military said it had shot down a missile and a drone launched from Yemen, where Iran-backed rebels have stepped up their attacks since a November ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and another Iran-backed group, Hezbollah.
Like Hezbollah – which began trading cross-border fire with Israel after Hamas’s Oct 7 attack last year – the Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians, and have vowed to continue until there is a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
While most of the missiles and drones launched from Yemen have been intercepted, one missile wounded 16 people in Tel Aviv in December, according to Israel’s military and emergency services.
In response, the Israeli air force has struck Houthi targets in Yemen, including Sanaa’s international airport.
The Houthi rebels have also been firing at ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden – destabilising a vital shipping lane and prompting reprisal strikes by the United States and sometimes Britain.
The group’s Saba news agency and Al-Masirah TV reported three raids on Sunday east of the city of Saada, in northern Yemen, attributing the operations to the United States and Britain.
Washington and London did not immediately comment on that report.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei on Sunday said Tehran “strongly condemned the American and British air strikes against infrastructure in Saada province”.
