Tel Aviv hit by “projectile” fired from Yemen

Two days after bombing Houthi rebels in Yemen, Israel said Saturday that a «projectile» fired from this country had hit Tel Aviv, injuring 16 people. The Houthis claimed responsibility in a statement for the shooting of a “Palestine 2 hypersonic ballistic missile” on “a military target of the Israeli enemy” in the Jaffa region (center).

Since the start of the war triggered on October 7, 2023 by the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli soil, the Houthi rebels have launched numerous attacks against Israel, claiming to act in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

“Interception attempts carried out without success”

“Following the sirens that sounded in central Israel, a projectile launched from Yemen was identified and interception attempts were made without success”the Israeli army said on Telegram. The emergency services said they were alerted at 3:48 a.m. local time (1:48 a.m. GMT) about a strike in the mixed neighborhood of Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv, and had deployed significant resources on site. They reported 16 minor injuries from flying glass, including a three-year-old girl, who were transported to two hospitals in Tel Aviv.

Quoted in a statement, rescuer Yosef Kourdi, who lives nearby, said he heard “a loud explosion” : “I immediately went to the scene and noticed that a neighboring building had suffered significant damage from the explosion.”

In their statement, the Houthi rebels said the attack was carried out in response “to the massacres against our people in Gaza”and in “retaliation for Israeli aggression against our country”.

“High price”

This announcement comes two days after Israeli bombings against ports and energy infrastructure of the Houthis in Yemen, more than 1,500 kilometers south of Israel, which left nine dead according to the rebels. These strikes were carried out in retaliation for a missile strike that caused significant damage to a school in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, caused by “a partial interception” according to the Israeli army.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then issued a warning to the Houthis, declaring that “Whoever hits Israel will pay a very high price”.

But the rebels, supported by Iran, then claimed responsibility for firing two missiles and a drone on Israel, specifying that they had targeted “Israeli military targets” from Jaffa. Most Houthi attacks on Israel were countered or caused only material damage. But in July, the death of an Israeli civilian killed in Tel Aviv by the explosion of a drone fired from Yemen led to a retaliatory air raid on Hodeida, causing six deaths and significant damage.

The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, including Sanaa, also regularly attack ships linked according to them to Israel, the United States or the United Kingdom in the Red Sea and in the Gulf of Aden, despite the strikes carried out by the American army, sometimes with the help of British forces.

The Houthis are part of what Iran calls the“axis of resistance”which brings together other movements hostile to Israel such as Hamas, Iraqi groups or Lebanese Hezbollah.