Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Sunday that they targeted Israel in coordination with Iran, the first time an Iran-aligned group has publicly announced joint cooperation on attacks with Tehran.
The Yemeni group targeted central Israel’s Jaffa with several ballistic missiles in the last 24 hours, military spokesperson Yehya Sarea said in a televised address.
“Triumphing for the oppressed Palestinian and Iranian peoples…This operation was coordinated with the operations carried out by the Iranian army against the criminal Israeli enemy,” he added.
The Israeli military earlier said sirens were activated in several areas in the country following missile launches from Iran and Yemen.
Israel and Iran continued to exchange missile attacks since Israel launched its biggest-ever military strike against its longstanding enemy on Friday.
On the same day Israel launched its attack on Iran, Israel said a missile that was launched from Yemen towards Israel fell in Hebron in the occupied West Bank. The Yemeni group however did not claim responsibility for the missile launch.
The Houthis have been launching attacks against Israel, most of which have been intercepted, in what they say is support for Palestinians in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war there since Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack on Israel.
Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
The U.S. also launched intensified strikes against the Houthis this year, before President Donald Trump halted the offensive after the Houthis agreed to stop attacks on American ships.
(Reporting by Jaidaa Taha; Editing by William Mallard and Raju Gopalakrishnan)