On Tuesday, Houthi rebels in Yemen fired a missile into Israel, which triggered air raid sirens throughout much of southern Israel. The Houthis did confirm that they used a “hypersonic ballistic missile type Palestine 2” to attack the Negev airbase.
The Israeli Defense Forces immediately announced that the missile had been shot down by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) before entering Israeli airspace. “A Yemen-based missile was intercepted by the IAF before entering Israeli territory,” the defense forces said.
The attack was the first one documented against Israel from the Houthis since a truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict began on January 19.
The Iran-supported Houthi rebels, who have in the past attacked Israel, criticized the recent Israeli attacks in Gaza. They vowed to increase their solidarity with the Palestinian cause, having threatened earlier this month to attack Israeli ships in the Red Sea.
The most recent Israeli attacks in Gaza have been especially lethal, claiming more than 400 lives, as reported by the Hamas-administered health ministry. The Houthis, as part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” against the United States and Israel, have carried out a range of drone and missile attacks on ships and Israeli soil throughout the Gaza war, reaffirming their solidarity with the Palestinian people.
