Yemen's Huthis claim missiles launched toward Israel

SANAA

Yemeni Huthi rebels claimed on Friday they had launched a barrage of missiles toward Israel, after the Israeli army said it had intercepted a missile over the Red Sea.

Huthi forces "carried out a military operation against specific targets of the Israeli enemy in the Umm al-Rashrash area, south of occupied Palestine, with a number of ballistic missiles," the group's military spokesman Yahya Saree said on X, formerly Twitter.

The Iran-backed Huthis warned they would launch further attacks at Israel "until the cessation of aggression and lifting of the blockade on the Gaza Strip".

The Israeli military had said earlier it had "successfully intercepted a surface-to-surface missile that approached Israeli territory in the area of the Red Sea".

The attack was the latest in a series of drone and missile strikes launched by the Huthis since the start of the Gaza war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas nearly four months ago.

The Huthis have also repeatedly targeted vessels in the Red Sea with strikes they say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is battling militant group Hamas.

The attacks have prompted some shipping companies to detour around southern Africa to avoid the Red Sea, a vital route that normally carries about 12 percent of global maritime trade.

The U.S. military on Thursday said it shot down a drone off Yemen and later destroyed an explosives-laden uncrewed surface vessel that threatened ships in the Red Sea.

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) also said the Huthis launched two anti-ship missiles that were possibly aimed at a cargo ship in the Red Sea, but that the missiles did not hit the vessel.