Israel deployed warships to the Red Sea on Wednesday, after Yemen’s Houthis declared war and launched a ballistic missile at an Israeli city.

Images released by the Israeli military showed Sa’ar-class corvettes patrolling near Eilat port in the Red Sea, which Israel sees as a new front as its war in Gaza draws retaliation from Iran-backed forces elsewhere in the region.

The Houthis on Tuesday said they had launched three drone and missile attacks towards Israel since the start of the Hamas-Israel war on Oct 7. They vowed there would be more such attacks to come “to help the Palestinians to victory”.

The Israeli military on Tuesday used its Arrow missile defence system for the first time to intercept an “aerial threat” over the Red Sea, believed to have been a ballistic missile.

Tzachi Hanegbi, the Israeli National Security Adviser, said on Tuesday the Houthi attacks were intolerable, but declined to elaborate when asked how Israel might respond.

The Houthis are part of the Iran-aligned regional alliance hostile to Israel and the United States which includes Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran-backed militias in Iraq.

The Houthis control swathes of Yemen including the capital Sanaa, more than a thousand miles from Israel.

Missiles and drones fired at Israel from the Red Sea area since Oct 7 have so far either been shot down or fallen short.

Israel said the Houthis were behind a drone attack on Oct 27 that caused explosions in two Egyptian towns on the Red Sea, saying they had been intended to hit Israel.