JERUSALEM

The Israeli army said Thursday that it had intercepted two missiles fired from Yemen as regional escalation continued to rise over Israel’s ongoing onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

A military statement said that the two ballistic missiles were shot down before entering Israel’s airspace.

The army said air-raid sirens blared in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and numerous surrounding towns due to the missile attack.

According to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, takeoffs and landings at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport were temporarily halted following the attack.

The Yemeni Houthi group confirmed that it had fired two hypersonic ballistic missiles at Ben Gurion Airport and a military target in Jaffa in southern Israel.

The Houthi group has been attacking Israeli-linked ships passing through the Red and Arabian seas, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones since late 2023, disrupting global trade for what it said is a show of solidarity with the Gaza Strip.

The group halted its attacks when a ceasefire was declared in January between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, but it resumed the attacks when Israel renewed its assault on Gaza.

The Israeli army launched a surprise aerial campaign on the Gaza Strip on March 18, killing 855 people, injuring nearly 1,900, and shattering a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas that took hold in January.

More than 50,200 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 113,900 injured in a brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his 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 war on the enclave.