Tel Aviv hit by missile fired from Yemen, say Israel and the Houthis

CNN
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A missile fired from Yemen hit Tel Aviv overnight Saturday, Israeli authorities said, in a rare case of a failed intercept over the city.

Israel’s military said the projectile landed in Tel Aviv’s southern Jaffa area, adding that attempts to intercept a missile from Yemen failed shortly after sirens sounded in the area. More than a dozen people suffered minor injuries, according to emergency services, but no deaths were reported.

Israel’s second largest city, Tel Aviv, is the country’s commercial and diplomatic center. Direct hits from projectiles fired at the coastal city are rare due to Israel’s extensive air defenses.

Following the attack, Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen said they fired a hypersonic ballistic missile marked “Palestine 2” at an Israeli military target in the Jaffa area early Saturday.

“The missile hit its target precisely and the defense and interception systems failed to intercept it,” the militant group said in a statement.

At least 16 people suffered minor injuries from glass fragments that broke in nearby buildings, Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency services said.

In addition, 14 victims were treated for minor injuries they sustained and sought shelter, as well as seven panic victims.

Resident Beth Shahai, 69, told the Reuters news agency that she heard sirens but the missile exploded before she could escape from her home.

“The ballistic missile landed right behind our building and all the windows blew in on the first, second floor and the whole area. It was very scary,” she said.

Since Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza started last October, the country has come under fire from missiles and rockets from Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, both Iran-backed militant groups, as well as from Iran itself. Almost all of the projectiles have been intercepted by Israel’s air defense.

Israel’s siege and bombardment of Gaza has led to tens of thousands of deaths and a humanitarian disaster, while its attacks on Lebanon have killed around 4,000.

The Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest waterways, for months, calling the attacks a response to the war in Gaza.

The Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah are all part of an Iran-led alliance spanning much of the region that has attacked Israel and its allies since the war began last year. They say they will not stop attacking Israel and its allies until a ceasefire is reached in the Palestinian enclave.

Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7 – in which militants killed more than 1,000 people and took hundreds hostage – sparked more than 14 months of conflict.

On Thursday, the Israeli military said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen with shrapnel that caused extensive damage to a school near Tel Aviv.

In November, shrapnel from an intercepted Hezbollah rocket hit a building in the city.

And in July, the Houthis claimed responsibility for a deadly drone strike in Tel Aviv – the group’s first attack on the city.