Houthi ballistic missile triggers sirens near Dead Sea, is intercepted — IDF

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired a ballistic missile at Israel early Sunday morning, which was intercepted before reaching Israeli territory, the military said.

The missile triggered sirens at around 5 a.m. in several towns in the Arava, just south of the Dead Sea.

Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, later claimed that the missile was launched at the Nevatim Airbase in the Negev desert, the second day in a row the group has claimed to target the site.

There were no reports of injuries or damage in the attack.

An early alert warning was also issued to a wide area in southern Israel before the sirens to alert civilians of long-range missile attacks via a push notification on their phones.

The new system, which was recently activated, has faced teething trouble of either not sending alerts or sending out warnings over a wider area than the sirens cover.

On Saturday morning, Houthis fired a missile, which they claimed targeted Nevatim Airbase, setting off sirens in the Beersheba area.

Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen have launched more than 20 ballistic missiles and several drones at Israel. Only half of the missiles triggered sirens in the country and were shot down, while the others fell short.

Fragments of a Houthi ballistic missile cause damage to a home in a town near Jerusalem, January 14, 2025. (Israel Police)

The sirens often send hundreds of thousands of Israelis rushing to shelters at all hours of the night, often causing a number of injuries in the scramble. The sirens are a precaution against falling debris from intercepts that have occasionally caused injuries, death, and damage.

The Houthis — whose slogan is “Death to America, Death to Israel, a Curse on the Jews” — first began attacking Israel and maritime traffic in November 2023, a month after the October 7 Hamas attack.

In recent weeks, the United States has been carrying out massive airstrikes in Yemen against the Houthis, targeting their leadership and infrastructure.