The Israeli military says the 'Palestine 2' missile, which set off sirens in Tel Aviv, has been intercepted.

Yemen's Houthi group said it had launched a missile attack targeting central Israel, vowing to continue its military operations against the country until the Israeli army war against Gaza.

The Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said in a televised speech that the operation on Monday was carried out with the help of a hypersonic ballistic missile called "Palestine 2".

The Houthis said the attack was in response to Israel's "massacres" against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, where Israel has been waging a war for more than a year and more than 45,000 people.

The Israeli military said a missile launched from Yemen's territory was intercepted before it crossed into Israel.

"Warnings for missile and rocket fire have been activated due to fear of falling fragments from the interception," a spokesman said.

Israeli media reported that the missile activated sirens across Tel Aviv, Israel's largest city.

However, the Houthis, who present themselves as Yemen's official army, said the operation had "successfully achieved its objectives" without providing details.

"The Yemeni armed forces continue to carry out their military operations and hit all targets linked to the Israeli enemy in the occupied territories, and these operations will not stop until the aggression on Gaza stops and the siege is lifted ," the Iran-allied group said. said.

Israel placed Gaza under a suffocating blockade that caused food shortages and deadly hunger in the area.

Last week, a Yemeni drone hit a building in the city of Yavne near Tel Aviv.

The Houthis continued their attacks against Israel even after a ceasefire in Lebanon took effect on November 27, ending another Gaza "support front" by Iran-allied Hezbollah.

The Houthis and Hezbollah are both part of the Tehran-led "axis of resistance".

In addition to launching missiles and drones at Israel, the Houthis were carry out attacks over shipping in and around the Red Sea in a campaign they say is in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Over the past year, the Houthis have targeted dozens of vessels with missiles and drones, killing four sailors and sinking two ships. The crew of one vessel - the Galaxy Leader, a British-owned and Japanese-operated freighter captured in November 2023 – remains detained in Yemen.

The United States, meanwhile, leads a military coalition that has bombed Houthi targets in Yemen, but that has not deterred the Houthi attacks. Israel has too carried out airstrikes against areas under the control of the group.

United Nations experts and rights groups have accused Israel of doing so to commit genocide in Gaza.