Israel says missile from Yemen fell in central Israel

The Israeli military said a missile fired from Yemen crossed into central Israel on Sunday, causing no injuries but again adding to regional tensions nearly a year into the Gaza war.

After the incident, AFP photographers saw firefighters putting out a brush fire near Lod, and saw broken glass at a train station in Modin. Both areas are southeast of Tel Aviv, Israel's commercial hub.

Yemen's Houthi rebels are among Iran-backed groups around the Middle East that have been drawn into the conflict triggered by the October 7 attack by Hamas Palestinian militants against Israel that triggered war in the Gaza Strip.

In July, the Houthis claimed a drone strike that penetrated Israel's air defenses and killed a civilian in Tel Aviv, at least 1,800 kilometers (1,200 miles) from Yemen.

In a statement on Sunday, Israel's military said "a surface-to-surface missile was identified crossing into central Israel from the East and fell in an open area. No injuries were reported."

"The missile was fired from Yemen," it added later.

The military said explosions "heard in the last few minutes" were from air-defense interceptors and the result of the interception was under review.

Yemen's Houthis have been launching attacks against Israel and its perceived interests in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians during the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The rebels are part of the "axis of resistance", which also includes Tehran-aligned militant groups in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

- Deadly shipping attacks -

Since November, the Houthis have carried out dozens of missile and drone strikes on shipping in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, waterways vital to global trade.

Several Filipino sailors have been killed in the strikes which have led to American military retaliation against Houthi targets.

Houthi missiles last month hit a Greek-flagged tanker carrying more than a million barrels of crude, leaving it ablaze off the coast of the Yemeni port of Hodeida and threatening environmental disaster.

A Greek defense ministry source on Saturday told AFP that a salvage operation was underway and the Sounion vessel was being towed northward under military escort.

After the Houthis' deadly July attack on Tel Aviv, Israeli warplanes bombed Houthi-controlled Hodeida in response, destroying much of the facility's fuel storage capacity and killing several people, according to the rebels.

It was Israel's first claimed strike in Yemen.

A rebel official vowed at the time to "meet escalation with escalation." A Houthi statement last month affirmed "once again that the Yemeni response is definitely coming."

On Saturday thousands of people once more took to the streets of Israel's main cities in a bid to increase pressure on the government to reach a hostage release deal.

Months of effort by Qatari, Egyptian and U.S. mediators have failed to secure a truce and hostage release deal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is facing rising anger from critics who accuse him of not doing enough to get the captives home.