Yemen’s Houthis claim hypersonic missile attack against Israel

The Israeli military says the ‘Palestine 2’ missile, which activated sirens in Tel Aviv, was intercepted.

Yemen’s Houthi group has said it launched a missile attack targeting central Israel, vowing to continue its military operations against the country until the Israeli military ends its war on Gaza.

The Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said in a televised address that the operation on Monday was carried out using a hypersonic ballistic missile called “Palestine 2”.

The Houthis said the attack was in response to Israel’s “massacres” against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, where Israel has been waging a war for more than a year, killing more than 45,000 people.

The Israeli military said a missile launched from Yemen’s territory was intercepted before it crossed into Israel.

“Alerts for missile and rocket firing were activated due to fears of falling fragments from the interception,” a spokesperson said.

Israeli media reported that the missile activated sirens across Tel Aviv, Israel’s largest city.

However, the Houthis, who present themselves as Yemen’s official military, said the operation “successfully achieved its objectives” without providing details.

“The Yemeni Armed Forces continue to carry out their military operations and strike all targets linked to the Israeli enemy in the occupied territories, and these operations will not stop until the aggression on Gaza stops and the siege is lifted,” the Iran-allied group said.

Israel has placed Gaza under a suffocating blockade that has caused food shortages and deadly hunger in the territory.

Last week, a Yemeni drone struck a building in the city of Yavne near Tel Aviv.

The Houthis have continued their attacks against Israel even after a ceasefire in Lebanon came into effect on November 27, putting an end to another Gaza “support front” by Iran-allied Hezbollah.

The Houthis and Hezbollah are both part of the Tehran-led “axis of resistance”.

In addition to launching missiles and drones at Israel, the Houthis have been carrying out attacks on shipping in and around the Red Sea in a campaign that they say is in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Over the past year, the Houthis have targeted dozens of vessels with missiles and drones, killing four sailors and sinking two ships. The crew of one vessel – the Galaxy Leader, a British-owned and Japanese-operated cargo ship captured in November 2023 – remain detained in Yemen.

The United States, meanwhile, is leading a military coalition that has been bombing Houthi targets in Yemen, but that has not deterred the Houthi attacks. Israel has also carried out air strikes against areas under the control of the group.

United Nations experts and rights groups have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.