Yemen’s Houthis claim responsibility for Eilat attack
For the first time since the beginning of the Gaza war, Israel shot down a missile using the Arrow air defence system on Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces announced.
Launching of an Arrow 3 interceptor. Photo by Israel’s Ministry of Defence
The Arrow system is the world’s first operational missile defence system specifically designed and built to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles.
“A surface-to-surface missile was fired toward Israeli territory from the area of the Red Sea and was successfully intercepted by the ‘Arrow’ Aerial Defense System,” the military said.
Earlier in the day, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for an attempted drone attack on southern Israel on Tuesday morning that set off air-raid sirens in Eilat.
“These drones belong to the state of Yemen,” Abdelaziz bin Habtour, prime minister of the Houthi government, told AFP, adding that that attack was in retaliation for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Some 30 minutes after sirens sounded in Eilat, the Israel Defense Forces released an update stating that an “aerial target” had been identified “approaching Israeli territory,” adding that “there was no threat or risk to civilians.”
Houthi rebels in Yemen appeared to threaten the Israeli city on Friday night, with senior Houthi leader Hizam al-Asad tweeting the single word “Eilat” in Arabic.
On Friday, the IDF said that a fighter jet had intercepted an “aerial threat” over the Red Sea, which came hours after a drone attack on the Egyptian resort town of Taba in the Sinai Peninsula that wounded six people.
Taba is located along the border with Israel, some six miles from Eilat, Israel’s southernmost city.
According to the IDF, missiles that landed in the Egyptian town of Nuweiba had been tracked from Yemen as well.
Last week, the USS Carney, a U.S. Navy destroyer, shot down missiles and drones from Yemen that were likely aimed at Israel, the Pentagon said.
“The crew of the guided-missile destroyer USS Carney, operating in the northern Red Sea earlier today, shot down three land-attack cruise missiles and several drones that were launched by Houthi forces in Yemen,” said U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Defense Department spokesman.
“They were launched from Yemen, heading north along the Red Sea, potentially toward targets in Israel,” he added.
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