ANKARA

Yemen's Houthis said Saturday that they carried out a military operation targeting “sensitive sites” in the Israeli city of Jaffa.

Spokesman Yahya Saree said the attack was conducted using a Palestine-2 hypersonic ballistic missile with multiple warheads, and the operation “successfully achieved its objectives.”

The Israeli army, however, claimed a missile launched from Yemen had been intercepted by air defense systems.

Sirens were said to be activated in central Israel, including the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. No casualties or material damage were immediately reported.

The Houthis have intensified missile and drone strikes on Israel since Israeli forces resumed attacks on the Gaza Strip in March after two months of a shaky ceasefire with the Palestinian group Hamas.

On Aug. 28, an Israeli airstrike in the Yemeni capital Sanaa killed 12 top Houthi officials, including Prime Minister Ahmed Ghalib Al-Rahawi and several other ministers.

The group has targeted commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 64,000 people since October 2023.