JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) – Israel said its air defences intercepted a surface-to-surface missile fired from Yemen on Sunday, and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement said it fired several rockets at the Israeli Red Sea city of Eilat.
The attack continued an escalation of violence between Israel and the Houthis that began on Friday when the Yemeni group launched a drone that struck central Tel Aviv, killing one man and wounding four others.
Israeli warplanes launched an air strike near Yemen’s port of Hodeidah on Saturday in response to what Israel said were Houthi military targets. Medical sources in Yemen told Reuters on Sunday that six people were killed and 80 wounded in the attack, adding that they were all civilians.
Pictures from the scene showed a massive fire and thick smoke rising from the site of the strike.
The Israeli military said its Arrow 3 missile defense system shot down the rocket fired from Yemen on Sunday before it could cross into Israeli territory.
Prior to the interception, sirens sounded in Eilat, sending residents running for cover.
These exchanges come within the framework of the repercussions of the war that has been going on in Gaza for more than nine months, which has attracted regional and international powers.
Iran-aligned groups, including the Houthis, have fired rockets and missiles into Israel, saying they are doing so in support of the Palestinians and the Islamist militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza. The United States and its allies back and supply Israel with weapons.
The war began on October 7 after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities. Since then, Israel has bombed and invaded Gaza, killing nearly 39,000 people, according to health officials in the territory.
The Houthis, who control most of northern Yemen and other major population centers, had previously announced the targeting of Eilat and other attacks directed at Israel, saying they were acting in response to Israel’s war on Gaza.
The group has also been attacking shipping lanes in the Red Sea for several months.
Hamas’s allies include Iranian-backed groups such as the Houthis, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iraqi paramilitary factions.