Yemen's Houthis launch drone attack on Israel in retaliation over Gaza war

Since October 7, more than 8,300 people have been killed, many of them children, according to the health ministry in Gaza. (Photo/AP)

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired drones towards Israel in retaliation for its war against Hamas, a senior official from the group has said.

"These drones belong to the state of Yemen," Abdelaziz bin Habtour, Prime Minister of the Houthi government, said on Tuesday when asked about the launch towards Eilat in southern Israel.

The Houthis, who seized Yemen's capital Sanaa in 2014 and control large swathes of the country, are "part of the axis of resistance" against Israel and are fighting with "words and drones", he added.

Israel's military earlier reported a "hostile aircraft intrusion" that set off warning sirens in the area of Eilat, a resort town on the Red Sea.

"There is no threat in this region and no danger," Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari told a separate televised briefing.

Israel blamed the Houthis for a similar drone attack on Friday in which its aircraft intercepted "hostile targets" headed for southern Israel.

Six people were lightly injured in neighbouring Egypt when debris hit a building in the Sinai resort of Taba, just across the border from Eilat, the Egyptian army said at the time.

On October 19, the US Navy said it shot down three land-attack cruise missiles and "several" drones that had been fired by the Houthis, possibly at Israel.

The Houthis will release a statement later on Tuesday with more details of their involvement in the "resistance" against Israel, Bin Habtour said.

Aerial threats

In the meantime, the Israeli military said on Tuesday its forces intercepted a missile fired from the Red Sea region.

"A surface-to-surface missile was fired toward Israeli territory from the area of the Red Sea and was successfully intercepted by the 'Arrow' aerial defence system," the military said in a statement.

The Israeli air force also scrambled jets following the detection of the missile.

"All aerial threats were intercepted outside of Israeli territory. No infiltrations were identified into Israeli territory," the military said.

Israel has been pounding Gaza since fighters from the Palestinian resistance group Hamas stormed across the border on October 7.

Since then, more than 8,300 people have been killed, many of them children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, an impoverished slice of land which is home to 2.4 million people.

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Source: TRT