Jerusalem:
The Israeli army said on Saturday it had failed to intercept a “projectile” launched from Yemen that landed near Tel Aviv. The national medical service said 14 people were slightly injured.
“Following the sirens that sounded recently in central Israel, one projectile launched from Yemen was identified and unsuccessful interception attempts were made,” the Israeli military said on its Telegram channel.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels have launched repeated rocket attacks on Israel since the war in Gaza began more than a year ago, most of which have been intercepted.
In return, Israel has hit multiple targets in Yemen, including ports and energy facilities in areas controlled by the Huthis.
“Recently, reports were received of a weapon falling into one of the settlements in the Tel Aviv district,” Israeli police said on Saturday.
According to Israeli media, the projectile fell in the city of Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv.
Fourteen people were injured, according to Israel’s emergency medical service.
“Additional teams are on site treating several people injured while en route to protected areas, as well as those suffering from anxiety,” a spokesperson said.
The Huthi rebels say they stand in solidarity with the Palestinians and vowed last week to continue their operations “until the aggression against Gaza ends and the siege is lifted.”
On December 9, a drone claimed by Huthis exploded on the top floor of a residential building in the city of Yavne in central Israel, causing no casualties.
In July, a Huthi drone strike in Tel Aviv killed an Israeli civilian, prompting retaliatory strikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah.
The Huthis have also regularly attacked shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, leading to retaliatory attacks on Huthi targets by US and sometimes British forces.
The rebels said Thursday that Israeli airstrikes that day killed nine people after the group fired a rocket into Israel, severely damaging a school.
While Israel has struck targets in Yemen before, the first were against the rebel-held capital Sanaa on Thursday.
“The Israeli enemy targeted ports in Hodeida and power plants in Sanaa, and the Israeli aggression resulted in the martyrdom of nine civilian martyrs,” rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Huthi said in a lengthy speech broadcast by the rebels’ Al-Masira TV.
Israel said it struck the targets in Yemen after intercepting a rocket fired from the country, an attack the rebels subsequently claimed.
Huthi spokesman Yahya Saree said they had fired ballistic missiles at “two specific and sensitive military targets… in the occupied Yaffa area,” referring to the Jaffa region near Tel Aviv.
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