ANKARA

Yemen’s Houthi group on Wednesday claimed to have launched missile and drone attacks on Israeli targets, including a hypersonic ballistic missile strike on Haifa amid rising regional escalation over the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

Military spokesman Yahya Saree said Houthi forces fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at a “vital target” in Haifa in northern Israel.

He said the missile hit its target, with Israeli air defenses failing to intercept it.

The Houthi spokesman said another “vital target” was targeted by a drone in the Jaffa area near Tel Aviv.

He said the attacks were in a show of support for Palestinians against the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.

Israeli media confirmed that air-raid sirens sounded in Haifa and Western Galilee in northern Israel.

The daily Yedioth Ahronoth, citing a military statement, said a missile was intercepted by Israeli air defenses, without giving details.

The Houthis have targeted ships passing through the Red and Arabian seas, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden since November 2023 in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where over 51,300 people have been killed in a brutal Israeli assault since October 2023.

The group halted attacks when a ceasefire in Gaza was declared in January between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, but resumed them after Israel renewed airstrikes on the enclave last month.