JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL 

The Israeli army claimed Tuesday that it had intercepted a drone launched from Yemen.

In a statement on the US social media company X, military spokesman Avichay Adraee said that the drone was shot down before reaching Israeli airspace.

He said the strike had not triggered air-raid sirens.

The Houthi group confirmed the attack, saying it targeted multiple sites inside Israel, including the army’s General Staff headquarters and Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, a power station in Hadera in the north, and Ashdod Port in the south.

The Houthis said a joint drone-and-missile strike was also launched on the MSC Aby, a vessel the group said was bound for Israeli ports, in the northern Red Sea.

“These operations are part of our ongoing support for the Palestinian people in Gaza and a response to Israel’s crimes of genocide and starvation,” the statement said, vowing to continue until the war and blockade end.

Tuesday’s drone strike was the second in just 24 hours after the Israeli army announced the interception of a Houthi drone on Monday evening.

Last week, an Israeli airstrike in the Yemeni capital Sanaa killed 12 top Houthi officials, including Prime Minister Ahmed Ghalib Al-Rahawi and nine other ministers.

The Houthis vowed to continue their missile and drone strikes against Israeli targets in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have launched missile and drone strikes on Israeli targets and targeted commercial shipping in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Arabian Sea in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where more than 63,600 people have been killed in an Israeli genocidal war.