The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen towards Israel early Saturday, the first time it had come under fire from that country.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack, raising doubts that the Tehran-backed rebel group would again target commercial ships sailing through the Red Sea corridor.
Sirens went off around Beer Sheba and the area around Israel’s main nuclear research facility for the third time Friday night into Saturday as Iran and Hezbollah continued to shell Israel throughout the night.
The Houthis have held Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014, and have so far not fought as the rebels have been in a year-long ceasefire with Saudi Arabia, which launched a war against the group on behalf of the exiled Yemeni government in 2015.
Shipping attacks during the Israel-Hamas war boosted shipping in the Red Sea, where about $1 billion worth of goods passed each year before the war. The rebels also fired drones at Israel.
Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities hours after it threatened to “intensify and expand” its campaign against Tehran on Friday.
Iran vowed to retaliate and struck a base in Saudi Arabia, injuring American service members and damaging aircraft.
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a spokesman for the Houthis’ military, made the claim in a statement Saturday on the rebels’ Al-Masirah satellite television.
Saree said they fired dozens of rockets at what he described as “critical Israeli military positions” in southern Israel.
The attack came hours after Saree wrote in an ambiguous statement on Friday that the rebels would join the war that has shocked the region and disrupted the global economy.
In 2024, the Trump administration began strikes against the Houthis that ended weeks later. The US-led campaign against the Houthi rebels, which has been overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, has turned into the most intense naval battle the Navy has faced since World War II.
Houthi rebels attacked more than 100 merchant ships with missiles and drones, sinking two ships and killing four sailors, from November 2023 to January 2025.
That would cause further chaos in global shipping, which is already reeling from Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas flows.
The possible involvement of the Houthis in the war will also challenge the dispatch of the USS Gerald R. Ford, an aircraft carrier to port in Crete on Monday for repairs.
Returning the carrier to the Red Sea could drag it into the high attack tempo seen by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2024 and the USS Harry S. Truman in America’s 2025 campaign against the Houthis.
Before the attack from Yemen, it seemed that there was success as Tehran agreed to allow humanitarian aid and agricultural shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, accepting a request from the UN. Ali Bahreini, the United Nations ambassador in Geneva, said that Iran agreed to “facilitate and accelerate” such movements.
The important waterway usually handles a fifth of the world’s oil shipments and about a third of the global fertilizer trade. While markets and governments are focused on the restricted supply of oil and natural gas, restrictions on fertilizer inputs and trade threaten agriculture and food security around the world.
“This step shows Iran’s continued commitment to supporting humanitarian efforts and ensuring that essential aid reaches those who need it without delay,” Bahraini said on social media X. The UN previously announced a team to deal with the dire consequences the war has had on aid delivery.
More than a dozen American soldiers were injured in an Iranian attack on a Saudi air base last week, according to two people briefed on the matter.
Iran fired six missiles and 29 drones at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan airport during Friday’s attack that wounded at least 15 soldiers, including five seriously, according to people who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The facility was attacked twice earlier this week, including one that injured 14 US soldiers, according to people briefed on the matter.
Located about 96 kilometers (60 miles) from the Saudi capital Riyadh, the base is operated by the Royal Saudi Air Force, but is also used by the US military.
