Houthi missile hits central Israel for first time, no injuries reported

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The Iran-aligned Houthis who control northern Yemen hit central Israel with a missile for the first time on Sunday and promised more strikes to come in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group struck with a new hypersonic ballistic missile that travelled 2,040 km (1270 miles) in just 11 1/2 minutes. Israel's military said the missile fell in an open area and nobody was hurt.

Air raid sirens had sounded in Tel Aviv and across central Israel moments before the missile landed at around 6:35 a.m. local time (0335 GMT), sending residents running for shelter.Loud booms were heard, which the military said came from missile interceptors.

"Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in central Israel, a surface-to-surface missile was identified crossing into central Israel from the east and fell in an open area. No injuries were reported," the Israeli military said.

Reuters saw smoke billowing in an open field in central Israel, though it was not immediately possible to determine if the fire was caused by the missile or interceptor debris.

The Houthis have fired missiles at Israel repeatedly in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians, since the Gaza war began with a Hamas attack on Israel in October.

Previously, Houthi missiles have not penetrated deep into Israeli air space, with the only one reported to have hit Israeli territory falling in an open area near the Red Sea port of Eilat in March.

Apart from missiles, the Houthis have also attacked Israel with drones, including one that hit Tel Aviv for the first time in July, killing a man and wounding four people. That attack prompted Israeli air strikes on Houthi military targets near the port of Hodeidah that killed six and wounded 80.

Israel should expect more strikes in the future "as we approach the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 operation, including responding to its aggression on the city of Hodeidah," Sarea said.

The deputy head of the Houthi's media office, Nasruddin Amer, said in a post on X on Sunday that the missile had reached Israel after "20 missiles failed to intercept" it, describing it as the "beginning".

The Israeli military also said that 40 projectiles were fired towards Israel from Lebanon on Sunday and were either intercepted or landed in open areas.

"No injuries were reported," the military said.

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch, Ronen Zvulun, Jaidaa Taha, Adam Makary and Mohammed Ghobari Editing by Jamie Freed, Miral Fahmy and Susan FentonEditing by Peter Graff)