On Monday, the Israeli military claimed to have stopped a missile fired from Yemen before it could enter Israeli land.
Since the conflict in the Gaza Strip began in October of last year, Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels have been launching missiles and drones toward Israel and ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians.
They have allegedly launched multiple missiles at Israel in recent weeks, prompting Israel to launch retaliation attacks against the rebels’ infrastructure and strategic assets.
“Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in central Israel, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the IAF (air force) prior to crossing into Israeli territory,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency service provider, said it had not yet heard of any casualties.
Israel stopped a similar missile fired from Yemen on Saturday.
Since taking over Sanaa and overthrowing the government in 2014, the Iran-backed Huthis have dominated a sizable portion of Yemen.
Since Israel and Hezbollah, another organization supported by Iran, agreed to a ceasefire in November, they have increased their attacks.
Israel has also struck Yemen, including targeting Sanaa’s international airport on Thursday.
An Israeli statement said its targets included “military infrastructure” at the airport and power stations in Sanaa and Hodeida — a major entry point for humanitarian aid — as well as other facilities at several ports.
Huthis use these sites “to smuggle Iranian weapons into the region and for the entry of senior Iranian officials”, the statement said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned the Huthis, saying that Israeli strikes against them would “continue until the job is done”.
“We are determined to cut this branch of terrorism from the Iranian axis of evil,” he said in a video statement last week.
Additionally, Israel Katz, the defense minister, recently said, “We will hunt down all of the Huthis’ leaders — nobody will be able to evade the long arm of Israel.”
Top Israeli officials issued the most recent warnings after a Huthi missile wounded 16 people in Tel Aviv, Israel’s major commercial hub.
The United States launched strikes against the rebels in Sanaa as a result of the incident.
In response to Huthi attacks on vessels in Red Sea-area seas that are essential to international trade, American and British forces have hit rebel targets in Yemen on multiple occasions this year.
Israeli retaliation against Hodeida was the first since a Huthi drone attack on Tel Aviv in July killed an Israeli civilian.
