By Al-Fassel and AFP | 2023-11-07

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis said they had on Monday (November 6) launched a fresh drone attack against Israel as they step up a campaign of disruptive strikes amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Israeli authorities did not immediately confirm the attack, which is the latest in a series of Houthi drone launches in recent days.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), a Houthi spokesman said the group had launched "a batch of drones" in recent hours "at various sensitive targets."

"As a result of the operation, the activity at the targeted bases and airports stopped for several hours," the spokesman claimed.

According to the Times of Israel, however, "there were no sirens or infiltration alerts set off indicating any such intrusion, and airports and military bases across the country appeared to continue operating as normal."

Previous Houthi attacks have been intercepted by the United States and Israel.

The Houthis have said they are acting as part of the so-called "axis of resistance," which includes Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.

The Israel-Hamas war erupted when Hamas terrorists crossed from Gaza into southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 200 hostages.

Aerial threats intercepted

The Houthis on November 1 said they had launched a "large batch of drones" towards Israel, claiming that "they reached their goals."

On October 31, the Houthis claimed an attack with drones and ballistic missiles on Israel and pledged more attacks, saying they had fired drones and ballistic missiles previously in three separate operations.

Israel had blamed the Houthis for another drone attack on October 27, saying its aircraft had intercepted "hostile targets" headed for the south of the country.

A "hostile aircraft intrusion" had set off warning sirens in Eilat, its military said, later saying a "surface-to-surface missile" was "successfully intercepted by the 'Arrow' aerial defence system."

"All aerial threats were intercepted outside of Israeli territory," it said.

At the same time, six people were lightly injured when debris hit a building across the border from Eilat in the neighboring Egyptian resort of Taba, the Egyptian army said at the time.

On October 19, the US Navy said it shot down three land-attack cruise missiles and several drones fired by the Houthis, possibly at Israel.

A US nuclear-powered Ohio-class submarine is deployed in the Middle East to help prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spiraling into a broader conflict, the Pentagon said Monday.

The US military's Central Command posted a picture of the submarine the day before on X that appeared to show it transiting Egypt's Suez Canal.

"What this does... is further support our deterrence efforts in the region," Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said, without providing further details.