UPDATE - Israeli army says it intercepted drone from Yemen

ADDS DETAILS, CHANGES DECK, UPDATES DEATH TOLL IN GAZA

By Rania Abu Shamala and Mohammad Sio

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Israeli army said Tuesday that it intercepted a drone launched from Yemen by the Houthi group.

The Israeli Air Force intercepted an unmanned ariel vehicle (UAV) that was launched from Yemen toward southern Eilat city, the army said in a statement.

Yemen’s Houthi group said it launched a dual drone attack targeting southern Israel, striking the port of Eilat and a military site in the Negev region, according to a statement from the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree.

Houthi forces carried out a “simultaneous military operation” using three UAVs, Saree said in a recorded statement.

Two drones targeted a “key military target” in the Negev, while a third struck the Eilat port in the south, he added, noting that the operation “successfully hit its targets.”

The Houthis have intensified missile and drone strikes on Israel since Israel resumed attacks on the Gaza Strip 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 58,500 people have been killed in an Israeli onslaught.