Israeli army intercepts 'hostile aerial target' over Red Sea

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army said Tuesday that it successfully intercepted a “hostile aerial target” over the Red Sea that was en route to Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat.

The army statement said an Israeli Air Force fighter jet shot down the “target,” which was believed to be a drone launched from Yemen, which the Air Force’s air traffic control unit had continuously tracked “throughout the incident,” without providing further details.

The army published a video on social media showing the interception of a drone.

The military did not say who launched the drone. However, Yemen’s Houthi group announced earlier in the day that it had launched several drones towards Eilat.

"The Air Force carried out a military operation with a number of drones targeting Israeli military sites in the Umm al-Rashrash area (Eilat) and other areas in occupied Palestinian territories, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement on Telegram.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Dec. 18 the creation of a multinational naval task force to counter Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

The group’s attacks are in response to Israel’s relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Israel has launched a massive military campaign on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing at least 20,915 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 54,918 others, according to local health authorities.

The onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave's infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million people displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicines.

Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

Tel Aviv has vowed to destroy Hamas and ensure the release of all hostages taken during the October attack. Some of them were returned after a temporary truce in November in exchange for some Palestinian prisoners.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio