A ballistic missile has been fired from Yemen towards Israel, prompting a series of rocket alarms at the border, it has been reported.
Houthi rebels reportedly triggered rocket sirens across northern Negev earlier today after the Israeli military said it had detected a missile headed for its territory. Sirens could be heard in Beersheba, Merhav Am, Nevatim and Revivim, among other communities, the Jerusalem Post reported, before the missile was intercepted.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) shared a map showing a series of locations where the alarms were triggered after around 6.56pm on Tuesday (4.56pm GMT). The organisation said in a brief statement: “Sirens sounding in southern Israel following projectile fire from Yemen.”
The attempted attack is the first carried out by Houthi rebels on Israel since January 18, just before the ceasfire on the Gaza Strip came into effect. After the fragile ceasefire broke this week and Benjamin Netanyahu’s government started attacking targets in the area, the Iranian-backed group had threatened to resume its attacks on Israel.
Houthis have previously shot missiles and drones towards Israel in acts it said were made in solidarity with Palestinians living in Gaza. The latest attempted strike comes following a bloody 24 hours for Palestinians, more than 400 of whom have died since the ceasefire broke.
Netanyahu’s government has carried out a series of strikes on multiple locations across the Gaza Strip, with more to come after Donald Trump’s US administration provided its backing. Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar said the attacks were not a “one-day attack” during a meeting with the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC in Jerusalem.
He said the US had received advance warning of the Israeli strikes and had supported them after the United Nations under secretary general said they were his organisation’s “worst fears”. He said in a statement following the strikes that Gazans are “once again” living in “abject fear”, and called on the Israeli government to permit workers to provide aid for survivors.
The official said: “Overnight our worst fears materialised. Airstrikes resumed across the entire Gaza Strip. Unconfirmed reports of hundreds of people killed…once again, the people of Gaza are living in abject fear. Humanitarian workers remain on the ground…ready to provide life-saving support to survivors and to carry out humanitarian operations. We must be allowed to do so.”
The daily toll of more than 400 people following the strike is the highest since the war between Israel and Hamas resumed in 2023. Previously, no more than 300 people had reportedly died in a single day, with health authorities reporting the deadliest day as June 9, 2024, when more than 270 Palestinians died during a hostage rescue operation.
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