Israel promised to “behead” the leaders of Houthi rebels as the terror organisation launched its latest ballistic missile at the country on Monday.

Rocket sirens went off in parts of the Negev desert and central Israel at 1.45am, forcing millions of Israelis to take cover in bomb shelters. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said the missile was intercepted by the air defence system “prior to crossing into Israeli territory”.

This marks the third time the Houthis launched ballistic missiles at Israel in the past week. Hezam al-Asad, a senior Houthi official, issued a statement shortly after saying the missile attacks on Israel will continue until the war in Gaza stops.

“Netanyahu will learn that his dreams of a new Middle East are nothing but a punishment for him and his imported entity,” Mr Asad tweeted.

Yisrael Katz, Israel’s defence minister, warned the terror group’s leaders they would be “beheaded just like we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon - we will do it in Hodeidah and Sana’a”.