Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility Saturday for a missile attack on Israel, marking their first involvement since the US-Israel conflict with Iran began.

Brigadier-General Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesperson, announced the strike in a statement broadcast by the rebels’ Al-Masirah satellite channel. Saree said the attacks “will continue until the declared objectives are achieved” and until what he called “aggression against all fronts of the resistance ceases.”

The Israeli military confirmed it intercepted the missile. The strike targeted “sensitive Israeli military sites” in southern Israel and came hours after Saree hinted in a statement that the Houthis were joining the ongoing war, reports Al Jazeera.

Sirens sounded around Beer Sheba and near Israel’s main nuclear research center for the third consecutive night as Iran and Hezbollah continued attacks on Israel.

Israel intercepts missile from Yemen amid fears of Houthi involvement

The Houthis have controlled Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014 but have largely stayed out of the wider US-Israel conflict. During the Israel-Hamas war, the militia launched repeated assaults on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, striking over 100 vessels, sinking two, and killing four sailors between November 2023 and January 2025.

In 2024, the Trump administration conducted strikes against Houthi targets, ending the campaign after several weeks. The missile attack underscores the growing regional reach of the conflict, which has already rattled global markets and intensified tensions across the Middle East.