UPDATE - Israeli interceptor missile launched to down missile from Yemen triggers fires near Jerusalem

UPDATES WITH HOUTHI CONFIRMATION, CHANGES DECK

By Mustafa Haboush

ISTANBUL (AA) – Fires erupted in areas near Jerusalem on Monday as a result of the debris of an Israeli interceptor missile that was fired to down a missile launched from Yemen.

The Israeli public broadcaster KAN said fires erupted near Beit Shemesh in western Jerusalem as a result of an interceptor missile's debris.

The Israeli army claimed in a statement that it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen before entering Israeli airspace.

Rocket alarms were sounded in Beit Shemesh and other areas near Jerusalem.

The Yemeni Houthi group confirmed that it fired a hypersonic ballistic missile towards a military target in Israel.

Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said the missile attack targeted the Nahal Sorek military base in central Israel, claiming that it "precisely hit" its target.

Regional tensions have escalated due to Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 43,600 people, mostly women and children, following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.

As the conflict spread to Lebanon with Israel launching deadly strikes across the country, nearly 3,200 people have been killed and more than 13,800 others injured in Israeli attacks since last year, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Despite international warnings that the Middle East region was on the brink of a regional war, Tel Aviv expanded the conflict by launching on Oct. 1 a ground assault into southern Lebanon.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar