Sirens sound in central region and West Bank sending hundreds of thousands to shelters in middle of night; no reports of impacts or injuries
A ballistic missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen at Israel overnight Sunday was intercepted by air defenses, the military said.
There were no immediate reports of impacts or injuries. Sirens had sounded in central Israel and in several southern West Bank settlements shortly before 1 a.m.
Later Sunday, the Houthis took responsibility for the attack, claiming to have targeted “several sensitive targets” in the Tel Aviv area using a ballistic missile with a cluster bomb warhead.
The Houthis have fired several missiles with cluster bomb warheads at Israel in recent weeks. The sub-munitions deployed by such missiles do not have their own propulsion or guidance and simply fall to the ground, where they are designed to explode on impact.
The terror group also claimed to have launched two drones at Israel, targeting “two vital targets” in the Eilat area. There were no reports of Houthi drones reaching Israel in the past day, indicating that they likely fell short before reaching the country.
The Houthis, an Iran-backed terror group, have repeatedly attacked Israel with ballistic missiles and drones, saying they are doing so in support of Gaza amid Israel’s war there against Hamas.
The Houthis — whose slogan calls for “Death to America, Death to Israel, [and] a Curse on the Jews” — began attacking Israel and maritime traffic in the Red Sea in November 2023, a month after the October 7 Hamas massacre.
Since then, the group has fired some 130 missiles and more than 150 explosive-laden drones at Israel, causing death, injury, damage, and regularly sending hundreds of thousands of Israelis scrambling to shelters at all hours of the day or night.
Last week, the Israel Air Force, which has bombed Houthi sites in response to the attacks, carried out its largest wave of strikes after a Houthi drone hit the southern resort city of Eilat, injuring 22 people, two of them seriously.
Hours after the IAF assault, the Houthis fired a ballistic missile at Israel that was intercepted by air defense systems.
The Houthis temporarily held their fire when a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Hamas in January 2025. By that point, they had fired over 40 ballistic missiles and over 100 attack drones and cruise missiles at Israel, including one that killed a civilian and wounded several others in Tel Aviv in July 2024, prompting Israel’s first strike in Yemen.
Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen have launched nearly 90 ballistic missiles and dozens of drones at Israel.
Last month, an Israeli strike on Sanaa killed the prime minister of Yemen’s Houthi government and several other ministers, with Israel warning that the attack on the group’s upper echelons was “just the beginning.”
