Houthis fire two missiles at Israel, triggering sirens in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv
IDF says both ballistic missiles intercepted outside Israeli territory, no damage or casualties reported; Hamas says terror group spokesman killed in strike in Jabalia overnight
Two ballistic missiles were launched at Israel on Thursday by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen and were successfully intercepted by air defenses, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
“Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, two missiles launched from Yemen were intercepted prior to crossing into Israeli territory,” the military said in a statement.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in the attack.
Sirens sounded across central Israel, in Jerusalem and numerous surrounding towns, as well as in several West Bank settlements.
The Houthis quickly claimed responsibility for launching the two missiles, saying that one targeted Ben Gurion Airport and another aimed at a “military target” in Jaffa, central Israel.
Italy’s ITA Airways said it had to divert one of its flights because of the missiles and that the flight later landed in Tel Aviv safely.
UPDATE: The IDF confirms two ballistic missiles launched from Yemen were intercepted outside Israeli territory. There were no reported injuries. https://t.co/CerDZtLglB pic.twitter.com/fcoAOEX6f4
— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) March 27, 2025
Additionally, the Houthis claimed to have attacked the American aircraft carrier, USS Truman, with rockets and drones.
Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree stated that “this is only the beginning” of their attacks against Israel.
It marked at least the seventh Houthi attack on Israel since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The attacks came as the US has continued to step up its bombing campaign against the Yemeni rebels, which resumed earlier this month after the group threatened to continue its attacks on Israel and Red Sea shipping.
The Houthis began attacking the vital Red Sea maritime route in November 2023, a month after fellow Iran-backed group Hamas stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
While the Houthis have said they were attacking Israeli-linked shipping in support of Gaza, they have also targeted vessels with no known Israeli connections.
The Houthis — whose slogan is “Death to America, death to Israel, a curse upon the Jews” — paused their attacks after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire and hostage deal in January.
IDF kills Hamas spokesman
On Thursday morning, Hamas announced that a spokesman for the terror group, Abdul Latif al-Qanou, was killed in an Israeli strike in northern Gaza’s Jabalia overnight.
Al-Qanou is the latest high-ranking operative targeted since Israel resumed its strikes on Gaza.
The group said in a statement it mourned the loss of al-Qanou, who was killed in what it called a “direct” strike on a tent he was in.
عاجل| استشهاد الناطق باسم حركة حـــماس عبداللطيف القانوع جراء قصف الاحتلال خيمته في جباليا البلد شمال غزة pic.twitter.com/TyY64MGdbj
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) March 26, 2025
The same strike wounded several people, while separate attacks killed at least six in Gaza City and one in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, medical sources said.
Earlier this week, Israel killed Ismail Barhoum, a member of Hamas’s political office, and Salah al-Bardaweel, another senior leader.
Both Bardaweel and Barhoum were members of the 20-member Hamas decision-making body, the political office, 11 of whom have been killed since the start of the war in late 2023, according to Hamas sources.
Last week, Israel ended a two-month-old ceasefire by resuming bombing and ground operations, increasing pressure on Hamas to free the remaining hostages in its captivity.
At least 830 people have been killed since Israel resumed major military strikes in Gaza on March 18, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, pushing the total killed over the course of the war to over 50,000.
The figures are not independently verified and do not differentiate between combatants and civilians.
The Times of Israel Community.