Yemen’s Houthis ‘launch missiles, drones’ at Israel

• He says the attacks will continue until the “Israeli offensive” stops.
• The operation was the third targeting Israel and there will be more.
• Yemen’s Houthi leader warns US not to intervene in war.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi group said it had launched a “large number” of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday, after the Israeli military said it shot down an “aerial target” approaching off the Red Sea city of Eilat .

The operation was the third to target Israel and there will be more, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Shari said in a televised statement.

Shari said the attacks would continue until “Israeli aggression” stops, referring to the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

After an initial warning of a possible “enemy aircraft incursion” sent residents of the tourist resort of Eilat running for cover earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli military said its “systems detected an aerial target approaching Israeli territory.” .

“There was no threat or danger to civilians” and the defensive action was successful, he added. There were no reports of rockets or drones striking Israeli territory from the Red Sea on Tuesday.

Yemeni Houthi leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi said on October 10 that if the US directly intervenes in the conflict in Gaza, the group will respond by launching drones and missiles and will take other military options.

The Houthis consider themselves part of the so-called “Axis of Resistance” that includes Iran-backed factions in Iraq and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.

The movement has been fighting a Saudi-led coalition since 2015 in a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people. During the fighting, the Houthis targeted strategic assets in the Gulf, notably energy facilities in Saudi Arabia.

Separately, Israel’s military said it used the “Arrow” air defense system for the first time since the outbreak of war with Hamas on Oct. 7 to intercept a surface-to-surface missile in the Red Sea that was fired toward its territory.

A spokesman told Reuters the two plane incidents were separate. In the second incident, Israeli fighter jets intercepted other aerial targets, he added.

Last week, Israel accused the Houthi movement of sending drones that set off explosions in two Egyptian cities on the Red Sea, saying they intended to hit Israel.

The Pentagon said a US Navy warship on October 19 intercepted three cruise missiles and several drones fired by the Houthi movement from Yemen possibly towards Israel.