The Israeli military said Houthi rebels fired a long-range surface-to-surface missile at central Israel on Sunday.
Why it matters: The attack, which the Houthis said was launched from more than 2,000 kilometers away, is a sign of escalation by the Yemen-based militia.
Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said the group fired a “new hypersonic missile” at a target in Jaffa, near Tel Aviv.
The IDF’s missile defense system did not intercept the missile before it entered Israeli airspace and said the missile “exploded” in mid-air, scattering debris over open areas.
The Israeli military said fragments of air defense missiles fired to intercept the missile fell near a train station and a fire broke out near Ben-Gurion Airport.
No injuries were reported from the attack, but the Israeli military said nine people were injured as they ran to shelters after the alarm was sounded.
It was the longest-range missile ever to hit Israel.
The latest: An IDF official told reporters in a briefing that Israel began monitoring the Houthi missile shortly after it was launched.
The official said that once it entered Israeli airspace, one of the interceptor missiles exploded near the Houthi missile but did not destroy it.
The IDF official said the Houthi missile was not a hypersonic missile, as Sarie claimed.
The Houthis had threatened to retaliate for the Israeli attack on Hodeidah, Yemen’s fourth-largest city.
A Houthi official said Saturday that Israel would face “surprises” in the coming days that it did not expect.
In a separate statement shared on Telegram after Sunday’s launch, the Houthis said Israel should expect more attacks ahead of the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
On the other side: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Houthis “should know that we exact a high price for any attempt to attack us.”
“Anyone who needs a reminder is welcome to visit the port of Hodeidah,” Netanyahu said.
Flashback: The Houthis, an Iran-backed Islamist militant group, have been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea for months, in what they see as retaliation for Israel’s war in Gaza.
Last July, the Houthis launched a drone strike on Tel Aviv that killed one Israeli civilian and wounded several others.
In response, Israeli warplanes carried out an airstrike on the port of Hodeidah.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with information from an IDF briefing.
