IDF downs two Houthi missiles fired from Yemen

Iranian-backed terrorist militias in Yemen and Iraq said on Thursday that they would cease their attacks against Israel following the agreement on a ceasefire with Hamas.

By JNS

The Israeli Air Force on Saturday morning intercepted a missile launched by Houthi terrorists in Yemen at central Israel, the military confirmed.

The missile attack set off air-raid sirens in Tel Aviv and the capital Jerusalem, among other places.

Hours later, the Israel Defense Forces downed a second Houthi missile that triggered sirens in the southernmost city of Eilat as well as in the Arava. The missile was intercepted before entering Israeli airspace, according to the military.

Iranian-backed terrorist militias in Yemen and Iraq said on Thursday that they would cease their attacks against Israel following the agreement on a ceasefire with Hamas.

Mohammed Abdul Salam, the Houthi spokesperson, declared the group’s “battle [is] reaching its conclusion with the declaration of a ceasefire in Gaza.”

The Israel-Hamas truce is set come into effect at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday (0630 GMT), the Qatari Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday.

A Houthi ballistic missile triggered sirens across central Israel early on Tuesday morning, in the second such attack within hours.

The sirens, which sounded just after 3 a.m., startled millions of residents in the Gush Dan, Judean Foothills (Shfela) and Sharon regions. Landings and takeoffs at Ben-Gurion International Airport were briefly suspended.

According to the Israel Police, missile debris hit private homes in Moshav Mevo Beitar and Tzur Hadassah in the Jerusalem area.

Police released an image of a large cylinder, identified as part of the Houthi missile, embedded in the roof of a home. Bomb disposal experts and other police forces were deployed to the affected sites.

Since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, Iran-backed Houthis have launched around 40 surface-to-surface missiles and 320 UAVs toward Israel, according to the IDF.

In response, the IAF has hit Houthi targets in Yemen several times, including on Jan. 10.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said thereafter that “just as we promised, the Houthis are paying, and will continue to pay, a heavy price for their aggression against us.”