Houthis say they strike Israel with ballistic missiles

Sanaa, Feb 3: Yemen's armed Houthi group has said that they have struck the Israeli city of Eilat with several ballistic missiles.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea in a statement aired by the group's al-Masirah TV on Friday said that the group struck "specific targets" in the city to demonstrate its "support to the Palestinian people in facing the Israeli war and blockade", Xinhua news agency reported.

"We will not hesitate to carry out further military operations against the Zionist enemy (Israel) on land and at sea until the aggression is stopped and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted," he said.

Hours earlier, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they intercepted a surface-to-surface missile in the Red Sea. No sirens were triggered during the incident.

Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October last year, the armed Houthi group in northern Yemen has launched multiple missiles and drones toward Israel in what the Houthis said was to support the Palestinian people in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

In November, a Houthi suicide bomb-laden drone hit a school in the southern city of Eilat, causing minor injuries, according to Israeli media outlets.

The Houthi escalation in the region and the Red Sea, which had already disrupted international shipping, raised tensions across the Middle East that could expand the conflict and hinder the regional peace process.