JERUSALEM 

The Israeli army on Monday evening said its air defenses intercepted a ground-to-ground missile fired from Yemen towards central Israel.

In a statement, the army said after activation of the rockets in-coming sirens in dozens of towns in the Tel Aviv area, it "successfully" intercepted the missile from Yemen.

The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said all landings and take-offs were suspended at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport following the missile firing from Yemen.

According to the Times of Israel news website, a fire erupted in the Beit Shemesh area, claiming that it was from falling fragments of one interceptor missile that confronted the Yemeni missile.

The Houthi group confirmed the missile firing towards central Israel.

In a televised speech, the group's military spokesman Yahya Saree said his group targeted two Israeli military targets in the Jaffa area with two missiles.

The attack came one week after Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes in Yemen’s coastal province of Al Hudaydah on Sunday, killing at least six people and injuring 57 others, according to Houthi-run authorities.

Regional tensions have escalated due to Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 42,000 people, mostly women, and children, following a Hamas attack last October.

The conflict spread to Lebanon with Israel launching deadly strikes across the country, which have killed more than 1,251 people and injured over 3,000 others since Sept. 23.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar