Israel launches interceptor missile at incoming aerial threat over Red Sea

An incoming aerial threat over the Red Sea on Thursday prompted Israeli forces to sound sirens in the southern resort city of Eilat and launch an interceptor missile, the military said, adding that any danger had passed. The military statement did not specify what had been launched at Eilat nor whether it had been successfully shot down. The city has previously been the target of long-range missile or drone attacks by Yemen’s Iranian-aligned Houthis. Medics said there was no word of any casualties in the incident, during which witnesses reported hearing a loud explosion and local TV showed smoke above the Gulf of Aqaba. 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.