Fires that blazed on Monday west of Jerusalem were not caused by debris from an intercepted missile fired from Yemen and claimed by the Houthis, firefighters said.
Israeli firefighters and the military had earlier said that blazes around Beit Shemesh about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Jerusalem had been caused by the missile's debris and its interception.
“The fire's start, which was limited - two cars and some brushes burned - is of criminal origin, according to elements we found,” Jerusalem area firefighters' spokesman Oudi Gal told AFP.
“A connection was made between the (missile's) interceptions because of the coincidence in timing between those and the fire's beginning because interceptions often cause fires, but in this case the two are unrelated,” he said.
The blazes were under control, he added.
Alert sirens rang in the Beit Shemesh area and in several other locations of central Israel shortly before 6:00 am (0400 GMT).
In a statement, the military said that the air force “intercepted one projectile that approached Israel from the direction of Yemen.”
Yemen's Houthis claimed an attack “against the Nahal Sorek military base, southeast of Jaffa,” in Tel Aviv.
“The launch was precise and triggered a fire next to the targeted area,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said.
With AFP
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