Houthi missile strikes Tel Aviv as attacks increase

JERUSALEM — Iranian-backed Houthi militants launched a missile from Yemen that landed in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Saturday after air defenses failed to intercept it, the latest in an increasing barrage of Houthi attacks.

At least 16 people were lightly wounded by shattered glass in nearby buildings, according to Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency service. It was at least the sixth such attack over the past month.

The attack set off air-raid sirens across central Israel ordering hundreds of thousands of residents to enter reinforced bomb shelters. The missile landed in a playground in Tel Aviv in the middle of the night.

Yahya Saree, a military spokesperson for the Houthis, said the group’s fighters had launched the missile “to aid the victory of the oppressed Palestinian people and its fighters.” He also claimed it had struck a “military target.”

On Thursday, Israeli fighter jets flew over 1,000 miles to bombard sites in Houthi-controlled Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa. The Israeli military said it had struck power plants as well as fuel and oil tanks.

Israel and the Houthis, who control much of northwestern Yemen, have traded fire since October 2023, when the Yemeni militia began firing rockets and drones at Israel in what it has described as a campaign in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

While military analysts widely deem the Houthis less powerful than other Iran-backed militias — like Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas in Gaza — they have managed to penetrate Israel’s defenses multiple times. In July, a Houthi drone attack killed a civilian in Tel Aviv, prompting Israeli airstrikes on the port of Hodeida in western Yemen.

On Thursday, a school in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan was damaged after a missile fired overnight from Yemen was partly intercepted, the Israeli military said. At least three people were wounded by broken glass, according to Magen David Adom, but no one was seriously injured or killed.

The Houthis have also attacked cargo vessels passing through the Red Sea in an attempt to enforce a commercial embargo on Israel. That has prompted international condemnation and a campaign of airstrikes by the United States and its allies against them.

U.S. military forces struck again in Yemen on Saturday, its Central Command said in a statement, saying it had targeted a missile-storage facility and a command-and-control facility operated by the Houthis in Sanaa.

U.S. forces also shot down Houthi attack drones and an anti-ship cruise missile, the statement said. It did not mention Israel, but said the strikes intended to “disrupt and degrade Houthi operations” and that they reflected the U.S. military’s commitment to protect its personnel, regional partners and international shipping.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to suggest on Thursday that Israel could take even more muscular action against the Houthis. But with the Yemeni militia so far from Israeli territory, it is not clear what Israel could do to decisively end the attacks.

“They are finding out and will find out the hard way: Whoever harms Israel will pay a very heavy price,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

Israel fought Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in October 2023. In November, Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire after Israel assassinated its leaders and invaded Lebanon in response to Hezbollah rocket fire.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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