ISTANBUL

Four Israelis sustained minor injuries on Sunday while rushing to bomb shelters after a missile was launched from Yemen toward central Israel.

The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation stated that the army intercepted the missile before it reached Israeli airspace.

"Four individuals suffered minor injuries while heading to shelters as sirens sounded in central Israel," it added.

In a statement, the Israeli army confirmed that alarms went off in several areas in central Israel due to the missile, which was intercepted before breaching Israeli airspace.

Regional tensions have escalated due to Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip which has killed nearly 44,400 people, most of them women and children, and injured over 105,100 since October last year.

The second year of the genocide in Gaza has drawn growing international condemnation, with officials and institutions labeling the attacks and blocking of aid deliveries as a deliberate attempt to destroy a population.

On Nov. 21, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi