Israeli emergency services said on Saturday that 16 people were injured when a rocket fired from Yemen hit Tel Aviv overnight. An attempt to intercept the rocket had failed, according to the Israeli military.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels later claimed responsibility for the strike, their second such attack in a matter of days. They said it was carried out with a ballistic missile and targeted “a military target of the Israeli enemy.”
The Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom reported that 16 people suffered minor injuries from broken glass windows and were receiving medical treatment.
Houthi attacks on Israel
The Iran-backed Houthis have launched repeated rocket attacks on Israel in solidarity with Palestinians since the Gaza war began over a year ago, most of which have been intercepted.
Saturday’s strike came just two days after the Houthi rebels fired a missile at Israel that damaged a school. In return, Israel bombed ports in Yemen and the country’s capital, Sanaa.
According to the Times of Israel newspaper, the Houthis have fired about 200 rockets and 170 drones at Israel in the past 12 months. The Houthis have also attacked ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Netanyahu vows repercussions
Soon after retaliating for Thursday’s attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Houthis of severe repercussions.
“After Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis are almost the last remaining arm of Iran’s axis of evil,” he said in a statement. “The Houthis are learning and will learn the hard way, that those who strike Israel will pay a very heavy price for it.”
dh/sms (AFP, AP, dpa)
