Israel said it shot down a missile launched from Yemen on Sunday and the Yemeni Houthi movement said it had fired several missiles at the Israeli city of Eilat after Israel’s first public strike against the Iran-aligned group a day earlier.
The Houthis have launched missiles and drones at Israel and disrupted global trade through the Red Sea in response to Israel’s assault on Gaza, further destabilising the Middle East as war in the Palestinian enclave rages on after nine months.
Israel says the Houthis have launched 200 attacks against it since the Gaza war began, many of them intercepted and most of them not deadly.
But a rare Houthi drone strike on Friday hit Tel Aviv and killed one person, prompting Israel to announce its first strikes against the group on Saturday. The strikes by warplanes hit near the Yemeni port of Hodeidah and killed six people, local medics said.
The Houthi movement, known formally as Ansar Allah, said on Sunday it would continue to attack Israel in response.
Sunday’s attack prolonged an escalation of violence between Israel and the Houthis that began with the Houthi drone strike that hit the centre of Tel Aviv on Friday. One man was killed and four other people were wounded, officials said.
The Israeli warplanes’ air raid on Hodeidah on Saturday killed six people and wounded more than 80, medical sources in Yemen told Reuters, describing all as civilians.
