The incident extended an escalation of conflict between Israel and the Houthis that began on Friday, when the Yemeni militia launched a drone that hit the center of Tel Aviv, killing one man and injuring four others.
Israel said its air defences intercepted a surface-to-surface missile launched from Yemen on Sunday and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement said it had fired several missiles at the Israeli Red Sea city of Eilat.
The attack prolonged an escalation of violence between Israel and the Houthis that began on Friday when the Yemeni group launched a drone that hit the centre of Tel Aviv, killing one man and wounding four others.
Israeli warplanes carried out an air raid near Yemen’s Hodeidah port in response on Saturday, killing six people and injuring 80 others, all civilians accoridng to medical sources in Yemen.
Images from the scene showed a fiery blaze and dense smoke rising from the site of the strike.
The Israeli military said its Arrow 3 missile defence system had shot down the projectile launched from Yemen on Sunday. Nonetheless, Israel claimed that one person
The exchanges are part of a spillover from the more than nine-month-old Gaza war that has drawn in regional and world powers.
Iran-aligned groups including the Houthis have fired rockets and missiles at Israel saying they are doing so in support of Palestinians and the Islamist militant group Hamas that controls Gaza. The US and its allies back Israel and provide weapons to it.
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The over 75 year old on-and-off conflict between the Palestinian freedom fighters and Israeli occupation forces escalated on October 7 after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. Israel has since bombed and invaded Gaza, killing nearly 39,000 people, according to health officials in the enclave.
The Houthis, who control much of the north of Yemen and other large population centres, have previously claimed targeting Eilat and other attacks directed at Israel, saying they are acting in retaliation for Israel’s babaric war on Gaza.
The group has also attacked Red Sea shipping routes for months.
Hamas’ allies include Iran-backed groups such as the Houthis, Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraqi paramilitaries.
