Yemen Houthis claim to have hit back with drone attacks

Houthi rebels in Yemen yesterday claimed to have retaliated against Israeli strikes on Sana'a with a missile aimed at Ben Gurion airport and a drone attack on Tel Aviv.

- Julian Borger Malak A Tantesh Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces said they intercepted the ballistic missile before it reached Israeli airspace, though residents in the middle of the country were ordered into shelters for fear of falling debris.

There were no reports in Israel of hostile drones over Tel Aviv.

It was the latest in a series of tit-for-tat exchanges. Israeli airstrikes on Boxing Day came in retaliation for a Houthi missile and drone launch on Christmas Day.

The Houthis began mounting attacks on Israel and Israeli shipping at the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, saying that they were acting in solidarity with Palestinians.

A Houthi statement yesterday said Israel's strikes would "only increase the determination and resolve of the great Yemeni people to continue supporting the Palestinian people".

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, vowed that strikes on Yemen would continue, saying the objective there was the elimination of the threat from the Houthis, who he called a "terrorist entity in Iran's axis of evil".

"We will persist until we complete the job," Netanyahu added.

He and his defence minister, Israel Katz, monitored the Israeli attacks on Yemen on Thursday from the air force command centre.

According to Israeli press accounts, 25 fighter jets took part in sorties that hit an array of targets across the country.