Israeli army says it intercepted 'suspicious aerial' object coming from Red Sea

By Said Amouri

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army on Thursday said its air defenses downed a "suspicious aerial" object in the Red Sea that was heading toward southern Israel.

The Israeli military statement said that the object did not enter the Israeli airspace.

The Times of Israel news website reported that residents in the southern Eilat city heard a huge blast.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army admitted that a cruise missile, likely fired by the Yemeni Houthi group, crossed into Israeli airspace and struck an open area near Eilat early Monday morning.

The Houthis have been targeting cargo ships in the Red Sea owned or operated by Israeli companies or transporting goods to and from Israel in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, where nearly 32,000 people have been killed in a deadly Israeli offensive since last October following a Hamas attack.

With the US and UK launching retaliatory airstrikes against Houthi sites inside Yemen, the Houthis declared that they consider all American and British ships military targets.

A coalition led by the US – under the name Operation Prosperity Guardian – has conducted intermittent airstrikes since Jan. 12 that have targeted Houthi sites in parts of Yemen in response to the attacks in the Red Sea.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar