IDF shoots down drones targeting central Israel; Yemen’s Houthis claim attack
The Iran-backed group claims ‘vital target’ successfully hit, urges other nations to support Palestinians and Lebanese ahead of Oct. 7 anniversary
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen claimed responsibility Thursday for overnight drone attacks on central Israel, the latest in a line of drone and missile attacks on the Jewish state.
In a statement posted to X Thursday, Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed to have successfully hit a “vital target” in Tel Aviv with a number of Yaffa-type drones.
The IDF earlier reported that a drone was shot down by the Israeli Air Force over the sea off the coast of central Israel.
A short while later, two more drones were identified over the sea, one of which was shot down. The second impacted an open area, according to the military.
In the second incident, warning sirens sounded in the central town of Bat Yam. No damage or injuries were caused and the military said it was still investigating the origin of the drones.
Last Friday and Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces intercepted two surface-to-surface missiles launched from Yemen, with the latter intended to coincide with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s return from the UN.
بيان القوات المسلحة اليمنية بشأن تنفيذ عملية عسكرية في عمق الكيان الصهيوني في فلسطين المحتلة بعدد من طائرات يافا المسيرة. pic.twitter.com/fgh43EUEU8
— العميد يحيى سريع (@army21ye) October 3, 2024
Earlier this week, the Israeli Air Force conducted airstrikes targeting infrastructure in western Yemen that the military said was used by the Houthis, in response to the latest ballistic missile attacks.
July saw the IAF conduct its first-ever direct strike in Yemen in response to a drone attack on Tel Aviv that killed a man in his apartment.
The Houthis have fired over 220 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones at Israel over the past year — mostly toward the southernmost city of Eilat — saying, similarly to Hezbollah terror group, that the attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been battling Hamas since the terror group’s October 7 attack.
The latest attack comes only days before the one-year anniversary of the October 7 terror onslaught.
Saree seized the opportunity to urge “all Arab and Islamic peoples to make evident their support of the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples in the coming days.”
The Houthis have also targeted ships traveling through the Red Sea, which once saw $1 trillion a year of cargo pass through it.
They have targeted more than 80 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started last October, including seizing one vessel and sinking two in the campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels.
The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US, or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against the Hamas terror group in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.