Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised a tough response to a rocket attack by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militia on Sunday.
“We are in a multi-front campaign against Iran’s axis of evil, which is striving for our destruction,” Netanyahu said at his weekly Cabinet meeting.
“This morning, the Houthis launched a surface-to-surface missile from Yemen at our territory. They should know that we exact a high price for any attempt to attack us.”
The long-range ballistic missile triggered air raid sirens across central Israel. Sounds of explosions heard in the early hours of Sunday were due to Israeli missile interceptors, the military said, adding that it was reviewing the outcome.
The Jerusalem Post daily reported that the missile had been fired towards the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.
The Arrow 3 missile defence system had apparently failed to intercept the projectile before it entered the atmosphere. Only on the second attempt did the Arrow 2 defence system manage to hit it over Israeli airspace.
According to media reports, missile fragments landed in various parts of the country, including in the cities of Modiin and Rehovot.
Houthi military spokesman Yehya Saree said the attack was carried out with a new hypersonic ballistic missile against an Israeli military target in Jaffa.
“It covered an estimated distance of 2,040 kilometres in 11:30 minutes,” he said in a televised statement.
“The Israeli enemy should expect more strikes and specific operations,” he added.
The Houthis have claimed several attacks against Israel since the eruption of the Gaza war in October last year.
Following a fatal drone attack on Tel Aviv by the Houthis earlier this year, the Israeli Air Force attacked the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah in July, leading to a massive fire and six deaths. The Houthi leader subsequently announced a new phase in the fight against Israel.
The Houthi militants have also been attacking ships in the Red Sea and said they want to force an end to the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, which follow the unprecedented massacres by the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement in Israel during the October 7 raid.