The Houthis issued an announcement on Sunday warning the residents of Tel Aviv, in central Israel, that the area had become an active war zone, urging them to evacuate to a “humanitarian zone” in the Negev desert.
Earlier in the day, a missile triggered a rush to shelters in central Israel on Sunday, a rare incident that caused no casualties but again added to regional tensions nearly a year into the Gaza war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the rebels will pay a “heavy price”.
AFP photographers saw firefighters putting out a brush fire near Lod and broken glass at a train station in Modin, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) southeast of Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial hub, after the attack.
‘New hypersonic ballistic missile’
The Houthis, who are among Iran-backed groups in the Middle East that have been drawn into the conflict, claimed the strike.
“The Houthis launched a surface-to-surface missile from Yemen into our territory. They should have known by now that we charge a heavy price for any attempt to harm us,” Netanyahu said, according to a statement from his office.
Hamas praised the attack, vowing that Israel “will not enjoy security unless it ceases its brutal aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip”.
The rebels had targeted an Israeli “military position” in the Jaffa area, around Tel Aviv, using a “new hypersonic ballistic missile that succeeded in reaching its target”, their spokesman Yahya Saree said in a video statement.
He added that “the enemy’s defences failed to intercept it”.
In July, the Houthis claimed a drone strike that penetrated Israel’s intricate air defences and killed a civilian in Tel Aviv, at least 1,800 kilometres from Yemen.
Interception results ‘under review’
In an initial statement on Sunday Israel’s military said the latest missile “fell in an open area” in the country’s centre.
A subsequent statement said an initial inquiry indicates the missile fired from Yemen probably fragmented in mid-air.
“Several interception attempts were made by the Arrow and Iron Dome Aerial Defence Systems, and their results are under review,” a military statement said.
#World – #Israel Says Missile from #Yemen Fell in Central Israelhttps://t.co/VQe77LJ7pR pic.twitter.com/ug3LThPw60
— This is Beirut (@ThisIsBeirut_) September 15, 2024
Sirens sounded, the military said, leading to what local media described as a scramble for shelter in the greater Tel Aviv area.
A paramedic service said several people were slightly injured while “on their way to shelters”.
Israeli police said they were at the scene near Shfela, east of Tel Aviv, where a fragment of an air-defence interceptor had come down.
The Houthis are targeting Israel and its perceived interests in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Deadly shipping attacks
Since November, the Houthis have carried out numerous missile and drone strikes on shipping in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, crucial waterways for global trade.
Several Filipino sailors have been killed in these attacks, which have prompted American military retaliation against Houthi targets.
Last month, Houthi missiles struck a Greek-flagged tanker carrying over a million barrels of crude oil, setting it ablaze off the coast of the Yemeni port of Hodeida, and posing an environmental threat.
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A Greek Defense Ministry source told AFP on Saturday that a salvage operation was underway and that the Sounion vessel was being towed northward under military escort.
In response to the Houthis’ deadly July attack on Tel Aviv, Israeli warplanes bombed Houthi-controlled Hodeida, destroying much of the facility’s fuel storage and killing several people, according to the Houthis.
This was Israel’s first claimed strike on Yemen.
At the time, a rebel official vowed to “meet escalation with escalation,” and a Houthi statement last month reiterated that “the Yemeni response is definitely coming.”
With AFP
