The Houthi militia in Yemen claimed responsibility on Sunday for a rare missile attack on Israel, the second time in two months that the Iran-backed group has successfully penetrated the skies over the central part of the country.
The assault was an illustration of the evolving conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Iranian proxies, which have mounted attacks on Israeli territory in what they have said is solidarity with Palestinians under bombardment in Gaza. It also demonstrated the seemingly growing military capabilities of the Houthis, based hundreds of miles from Israel on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula.
Early Sunday morning, the Israeli military said the Houthis had fired a surface-to-surface missile that landed in an “open area.” No casualties were reported. It said in a follow-up statement that an initial inquiry indicated the missile had “fragmented midair,” and that it was reviewing its attempts to intercept the missile.
Yahya Sarea, a Houthi military spokesman, said the Houthis had fired a ballistic missile at what he claimed was a military target in central Israel. His claims could not be independently verified.
“The enemy should expect more strikes and quality operations,” Mr. Sarea said in a televised statement.
The goal of the attack, said Nasruddin Amer, another Houthi spokesman, was to pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza.
“The problem is in Gaza and the solution is in Gaza,” Mr. Amer said in a text message.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel suggested his country would respond to the attack, which he cast as part of a wider “battle against Iran’s axis of evil that is striving to destroy us.”
“They should have known by now that we exact a heavy price for any attempt to harm us,” he said at the start of a meeting of the government, referring to the Houthis.
Hamas in Gaza is one of several armed groups in the region that are backed by Iran, including the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Houthis are a Yemeni Shiite militia that over the past decade seized control of large parts of western Yemen, including its capital, Sana, and Red Sea coastline. While the group’s opposition to Israel long preceded the war in Gaza, the Houthis had rarely attacked Israeli interests before it began in October.
Since November, the Houthis have menaced ships in the Red Sea that it claims have links to Israel.
On July 19, the Houthis launched a drone attack on Tel Aviv that crashed into a building near the U.S. Embassy, killing one person and wounding several others.
A day later, Israeli fighter jets bombed the Red Sea port of Hudaydah, which is controlled by the Houthis. The strikes in Hudaydah killed three people and injured 87, according to the health ministry in Sana, which the Houthis control.