ISTANBUL

Yemen’s Houthi group claimed a new missile strike on Israel’s Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, the third such attack in less than 24 hours.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said a hypersonic ballistic missile was launched at the airport and “hit its target successfully.”

He said the strike caused flight operations at the airport to halt for an hour, saying the attack was “a show of support for the oppressed Palestinian people.”

“These operations will continue and will not stop unless the (Israeli) aggression on Gaza stops and the blockade is lifted,” he added.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on Wednesday’s attack.

On Tuesday, the army said that it had intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Yemen.

The Israeli army early Wednesday ordered Yemeni residents to immediately evacuate the seaports of Ras Isa, Al-Hudaydah, and Salif ahead of potential airstrikes.

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 52,900 people have been killed in a brutal Israeli assault for more than 19 months, most of them women and children.

The group halted attacks when a Gaza ceasefire was declared in January between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas but resumed them after Israel's renewed airstrikes on Gaza in March.

Last week, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi announced a ceasefire between the Houthi group and the US administration. It came shortly after President Donald Trump said the Houthi group agreed to halt attacks on commercial ships.

The Houthi group confirmed the ceasefire with Washington, but said that it has no relation with its confrontation with Israel in support of the Palestinian people.