Yemen's Houthis claim launched pre-dawn missile intercepted by Israel

Sanaa, Dec 25 Yemen's Houthi group said it launched a "hypersonic ballistic missile" at Tel Aviv, an attack that Israel said it successfully intercepted.

"In support of the Palestinian people in Gaza, we launched a hypersonic ballistic missile at Tel Aviv, targeting a military target," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV on Tuesday.

He vowed that his group would launch more attacks against Israel and that the US-led airstrikes on his group's targets in Yemen would not stop them, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We are fully prepared and ready to confront the Israeli-American-British aggression (on Yemen)," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had intercepted a missile launched by Houthis.

The missile, which was aimed at Tel Aviv, triggered air-raid sirens across central and southern Israel, forcing millions of residents to seek shelter just before 2 a.m. local time (0000 GMT).

"A projectile launched from Yemen was intercepted prior to crossing into Israeli territory," the IDF said in a statement, adding that the sirens were activated as a precaution due to the possibility of falling shrapnel from the interception.

The missile attack came just a day after Houthis launched a drone strike on Israel, which was also intercepted, according to the IDF. The Houthis have sporadically targeted Israel since October 2023 in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

In retaliation, Israel has launched several large-scale airstrikes on Yemen, with the most recent one occurring on Thursday.

Earlier on Tuesday, Yemen's pro-government forces announced that eight Houthi fighters were killed and 15 others wounded during intense clashes sparked in the country's southwestern province of Taiz.

In a brief press statement, the pro-government forces said the Houthis launched a "failed assault" in "an attempt to breach fortified military sites" controlled by the government in the northwestern part of Taiz during the past hours.

Eyewitnesses confirmed seeing Houthi medical teams evacuating the injured from the battleground and transferring them to hospitals outside Taiz.