Interceptor launch in Red Sea port city of Eilat triggered by false alarm, says Israeli military

The Israeli military said on Thursday that the sounding of sirens in the southern resort of Eilat and the launch of an interceptor missile over the Red Sea were a result of a false alarm. Despite Eilat being targeted during the more than three-month Gaza war, the recent incident was attributed to a mistaken alert, and there was no actual threat. After sirens sounded in Eilat, witnesses reported hearing an explosion and local TV carried images of smoke over the Gulf of Aqaba. The military said it had launched an interceptor missile at an incoming threat, without specifying if it was shot down. In a follow-up statement, the military said the incident was due to a misidentification, by its sensors, of the interceptor launch as an incoming threat – which set off the sirens. The military did not immediately explain why the interceptor was launched. Medics said no one was hurt in the incident. The Houthis, like several other Iranian-linked groups in the region, have been carrying out attacks on Israel in solidarity with Palestinian Hamas militants fighting a war with it in Gaza.

The U.S. on Wednesday returned the Yemen-based Houthi rebels to a list of terrorist groups, as the militants attacked their second U.S.-operated vessel in the Red Sea region this week and the U.S. military carried out fresh strikes.

Attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi militia on ships in the region since November have slowed trade between Asia and Europe and alarmed major powers in an escalation of the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.

With inputs from agencies.