Yemen’s Houthis on Wednesday claimed a missile attack against Israel that they said was launched jointly with their backer Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group — the third such attack by the rebels since they entered the Middle East war.
Earlier on Wednesday, Israel’s military said its air defences had responded to a missile launched from Yemen, later announcing that residents were “permitted to leave protected spaces in all areas of the country”.
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Israeli media said the missile was intercepted, and there were no reports of any casualties or damage.
The Houthis “carried out the third military operation… targeting sensitive Israeli enemy targets… with a barrage of ballistic missiles”, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a video statement.
“This operation was conducted jointly with our mujahideen brothers in Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon,” he added.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed missile and drone attacks targeting Israel over the weekend, their first in the current war.
The Israeli military also said on Monday that two drones launched from Yemen were intercepted.
From Yemen, the Houthis could potentially disrupt shipping through the Red Sea, as they did at the height of Israel’s war on Gaza.
The Houthis have previously threatened shipping through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, which requires vessels to travel through a narrow strait off Yemen’s coast.
