UPDATE - Israel claims to have intercepted missile launched from Yemen

UPDATES WITH HOUTHI CONFIRMATION, CHANGES DECK

By Betul Yilmaz

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Israeli army claimed early Thursday to have intercepted a missile launched from Yemen.

Army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X that the missile attack had triggered air-raid sirens in some parts of the country.

The Yemeni Houthi group confirmed the attack, saying it targeted Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport with a ballistic missile in a “qualitative military operation.”

Military spokesman Yahya Saree said that the missile had hit its target, causing air-raid sirens to “sound in more than 300 towns and cities, sending millions of Zionists (Israelis) rushing to shelters, and halting air traffic at the airport.”

The Houthis have intensified missile and drone strikes on Israel since the Israeli military resumed attacks on Gaza in March after two months of a shaky ceasefire.

Since November 2023, the group has also targeted commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where nearly 57,700 people have been killed in an Israeli onslaught.