Israel says intercepted missile from Yemen, day after Sanaa hit with strikes

Smoke billows after an airstrike on Yemen's capital Sanaa on Dec. 27, 2024.

The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen early Saturday, a day after the Houthi.-held capital Sanaa was hit by fresh air strikes.

Sirens sounded in areas of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea on Saturday as "a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted... prior to crossing into Israeli territory", the Israeli military said.

The day before, a fresh air strike hit Sanaa, which Houthi. rebels blamed on "U.S.-British aggression" though it remains unclear who was behind it.

There was no comment from Israel, the United States or Britain.

"I heard the blast. My house shook," one Sanaa resident told AFP late Friday.

The Iran-backed Houthi.s control large parts of Yemen after seizing Sanaa and ousting the government in 2014.

Since the eruption of war in Gaza in October last year, the Houthi.s — claiming solidarity with Palestinians — have fired a series of missiles and drones at Israel.

They have stepped up their attacks since November's ceasefire between Israel and another Iran-backed group, Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel has also struck Yemen, including targeting Sanaa's international airport on Thursday in an attack that came as the head of the World Health Organization was about to board a plane.

The Houthi.s have also attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea, prompting reprisal strikes by the United States and sometimes Britain.

Earlier Friday, before the strike on Sanaa, tens of thousands of people gathered to protest and express solidarity with Palestinians.

"The equation has changed and has become: (targeting) airport for airport, port for port, and infrastructure for infrastructure,"...