Houthis say they fired ballistic missiles towards Israel

Yemen's Houthi rebels have claimed that they have launched ballistic missiles on various Israel targets, including in the Red Sea city of Eilat, the group's military spokesperson has said. The launch came "after 24 hours of another military operation by drones on the same Israeli targets," the spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The Israeli military said that it intercepted a missile near the Red Sea, reports Al Jazeera.

Israel said it used its "Arrow" aerial defence system to shoot down a missile on Tuesday after sirens sounded in the port city of Eilat. Israel says that the projectile did not enter its territory, and did not say who shot it, writes Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile the news agency Xinhua said, Yemen's Houthi rebels on Tuesday claimed to have launched a barrage of long-range ballistic missiles and bomb-laden drones toward Israel, in two separate operations to revenge Israel for attacking the Gaza Strip.

"We fired today a batch of ballistic missiles at various targets of the Israeli enemy, including targets in Eilat," Houthi military spokesman Yehya Sarea said in a televised statement aired by the Houthi-run satellite TV channel al-Masirah.

"The launch of ballistic missiles came only 24 hours after another military operation that we carried out with bomb-laden drones on the same Israeli targets," Sarea said.

The spokesman also said the Houthi militia would blow up any Israeli ship sailing in the Red Sea, adding the attacks would not stop until Israel stops its strikes on Gaza.

Hours earlier, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi vowed to attack any Israeli ship sailing in the Red Sea or the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait to revenge Israel's strikes on the Gaza Strip, reports Xinhua.

Since the Hamas attack, Israel has bombarded Gaza and launched a ground invasion of the territory. More than 11,200 people have been killed in the Israeli assault, including more than 4,600 children, according to Palestinian authorities.

So far, the Houthi rebel group, who controls much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, has claimed responsibility for eight cross-border attacks toward Israeli cities since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct. 7.

Last week, the Houthis shot down a U.S. drone off Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.