Hamas chief says Gaza militants ready for 'long war of attrition'

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar said on Monday the Palestinian group was prepared for prolonged fighting against Israel, in a message to Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels nearly a year into the Gaza war.

"We have prepared ourselves to fight a long war of attrition that will break the enemy's political will," the Hamas leader said, asserting that the militants in Gaza and allied Iran-aligned groups in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen would defeat Israel.

The message followed a rare missile attack on central Israel on Sunday claimed by the Houthis, who control the Yemeni capital Sanaa and much of the country's Red Sea coast.

The attack caused no casualties but sparked vows of retaliation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Sinwar said in the message addressed to Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi: "I congratulate you on your success in sending your missiles deep into the enemy entity, bypassing all layers and defense and interception systems."

The Houthis said they had "penetrated" Israel's air defenses, while Israel said the missile likely fragmented mid-air but was not destroyed.

"Our combined efforts with you" and with groups in Lebanon and Iraq "will break this enemy and inflict defeat on it," Sinwar added.

Since November the Houthis have targeted Israel and its perceived interests in stated solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, launching dozens of missile and drone strikes that have disrupted global shipping through vital waterways off Yemen.

The Houthis are fighting Israel as part of Iran's so-called "axis of resistance", which includes Hamas, Lebanon's Hezbollah and Several Iraqi Shiite Muslim groups.

In July, a Houthi drone strike killed a civilian in Tel Aviv, at least 1,800 kilometers from Yemen.

It prompted retaliatory strikes that caused significant damage and deaths at Yemen's rebel-controlled Hodeida port.