A ballistic missile launched at Israel by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Friday evening wounded five Palestinians, including three children, in the Palestinian town of Sa’ir, near Hebron in the southern West Bank, according to the IDF and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The Houthi attack came ahead of larger barrages of missiles from Iran itself. No interceptors were launched at the missile from Yemen, the IDF said, adding that the incident was under further investigation.
Sirens had sounded in Jerusalem and southern West Bank settlements ahead of the Yemeni missile, but it was unclear if the warnings could be heard in neighboring Palestinian towns.
Hours later, close to another deadly Iranian missile barrage, the IDF said it had shot down three drones apparently also fired at Israel from Yemen. The drones did not set off any sirens in Israel.
The Houthi attack came just before Iran fired several waves of ballistic missiles at Israel, killing three people, wounding dozens and causing extensive damage to property. The missile strikes were in retaliation for Israeli strikes starting early Friday that have targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities, missile plants, and military leadership.
The Houthis are part of Iran’s so-called Axis of Resistance, a regional network of proxies dedicated to Israel’s destruction.
The Yemeni rebels — whose slogan calls for “Death to America, Death to Israel, [and] a Curse on the Jews” — began attacking Israel and maritime traffic in November 2023, a month after the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza.
The Houthis held their fire when a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Hamas in January 2025. By that point, they had fired over 40 ballistic missiles and dozens of attack drones and cruise missiles at Israel, including one that killed a civilian and wounded several others in Tel Aviv in July, prompting Israel’s first strike on Yemen.
Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen have launched 49 ballistic missiles and at least 11 drones at Israel. Several of the missiles have fallen short.