Yemen's Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack that reached central Israel for the first time on Sunday, saying the group employed a "new hypersonic ballistic missile" in a "specific military operation" targeting the Tel Aviv area, in a statement from the group's military spokesperson.
The Iranian proxy falsely added that Israel had failed to intercept the missile. While the IDF's Arrow system failed to bring the missile down before entering Israeli airspace, it did ultimately intercept it.
"It crossed a distance of 2,040 km in 11 and a half minutes and caused a state of fear and panic among the Zionists, as more than two million Zionists headed to shelters for the first time in the history of the Israeli enemy," the military spokesperson added.
The spokesperson continued saying that the attack came as the result of the group's efforts in developing missile technologies capable of bypassing naval, ground, and aerial interception systems.
"The geographical challenges, the American-British aggression, and the monitoring, espionage, and interception systems will not prevent beloved Yemen from performing its religious, moral, and humanitarian duty in solidarity with the Palestinian people," the statement added.
More attacks to come, spokesperson says
The spokesperson affirmed that Israel should anticipate more attacks in the weeks leading up to the anniversary of "the blessed October 7 operation," when Hamas and Gazan civilians infiltrated Israeli territory, massacred some 1200 people, and took more than 250 people hostage.
The attacks that the Houthis would launch, the spokesperson said, would come in support of the Palestinian people and as a response to the Israel Air Force's July operation, which saw the IAF target Houthi infrastructure in the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah.
Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, welcomed the "quality attack" carried out by the Houthis. According to the statement, Hamas had been informed of various details of the attack, including its weapon and target, significantly impacting the course of the war.
The statement also pointed out that Israel's inability to intercept the missile proves its inability to fight multiple fronts, adding that "Netanyahu is heading towards certain disaster."