Israeli military says it intercepted missile from Yemen; Houthis claim responsibility
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Sunday's attack, adding that it fired a missile towards Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. File photo
CAIRO — The Israeli military said on Sunday that it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen towards Israel in an attack by Yemen's Houthis.
Sirens sounded in several areas in the country, the Israeli military said earlier.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have continued to fire missiles at Israel in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Most of the group's missiles have been intercepted or have fallen short.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Sunday's attack, adding that it fired a missile towards Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.
US President Donald Trump announced this month that the US would stop bombing the Houthis in Yemen because the group had agreed to stop attacking US ships under an Oman-mediated ceasefire deal. However, the accord did not include Israel. — Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
GMA Network
15 hours ago
- GMA Network
US says Israel accepts Gaza ceasefire plan; Hamas cool to it
WASHINGTON/UNITED NATIONS/CAIRO - Israel has agreed to a U.S. ceasefire proposal for Gaza, the White House said on Thursday, and Hamas said it was reviewing the plan although its terms did not meet the group's demands. As a U.S.-backed system for distributing food aid in the shattered enclave expanded, Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the families of hostages held in Gaza that Israel had accepted a deal presented by U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. Netanyahu's office did not confirm the reports, but White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters in Washington that Israel had signed off on the proposal. She did not detail its contents. But the New York Times quoted an Israeli official familiar with the proposal as saying the initial phase would include a 60-day ceasefire and humanitarian aid flowing through U.N.-run operations. The Palestinian militant group Hamas said it was studying the proposal, and senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters the group was still discussing it. But Abu Zuhri said its terms echoed Israel's position and do not contain commitments to end the war, withdraw Israeli troops or admit aid as Hamas has demanded. Deep differences between Hamas and Israel have stymied previous attempts to restore a ceasefire that broke down in March after only two months. Israel has insisted that Hamas disarm completely and be dismantled as a military and governing force and that all 58 hostages still held in Gaza must be returned before it will agree to end the war. Hamas has rejected the demand to give up its weapons and says Israel must pull its troops out of Gaza and commit to ending the war. Aid effort expands The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private group backed by the United States and endorsed by Israel, expanded its aid distribution to a third site on Thursday. Heavily criticized by the United Nations and other aid groups as inadequate and flawed, the group's operation began this week in Gaza, where the U.N. has said 2 million people are at risk of famine after Israel's 11-week blockade on aid entering the enclave. The aid launch was marred by tumultuous scenes on Tuesday when thousands of Palestinians rushed distribution points and forced private security contractors to retreat. The chaotic start to the operation has raised international pressure on Israel to get more food in and halt the fighting in Gaza. GHF has so far supplied about 1.8 million meals and plans to open more sites in the coming weeks. Witkoff told reporters on Wednesday that Washington was close to "sending out a new term sheet" about a ceasefire to the two sides in the conflict that has raged since October 2023. "I have some very good feelings about getting to a long-term resolution, temporary ceasefire and a long-term resolution, a peaceful resolution, of that conflict," Witkoff said then. Israel has come under increasing international pressure, with many European countries that have normally been reluctant to criticise it openly demanding an end to the war and a major relief effort. Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in response to the devastating Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. The campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, Gaza health officials say, and left the enclave in ruins. — Reuters
GMA Network
a day ago
- GMA Network
South Koreans turn out for early voting as presidential hopefuls vow change
People wait in a line to cast their early vote for the upcoming presidential election at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea, May 29, 2025. Yonhap via REUTERS SEOUL — South Koreans turned out in record numbers for early voting on Thursday ahead of next week's snap presidential election, official data showed, as both leading candidates urged voters to back them to change a country in crisis. The June 3 election comes after months of political turmoil and a power vacuum following the ouster of former leader Yoon Suk Yeol over a botched attempt to impose martial law. The liberal Democratic Party's candidate Lee Jae-myung, the frontrunner in the polls before a blackout period banning opinion polls began on Wednesday, cast his ballot in Seoul. "In order to overcome the current crisis... and start again as a Korea of recovery and growth, please vote," Lee said after casting his ballot alongside young voters in a university district. His comment came after the Bank of Korea cut interest rates on Thursday and slashed its 2025 growth forecast for Asia's fourth-largest economy to 0.8% from 1.5% previously. On Wednesday, Lee pledged to establish a new Ministry of Climate and Energy to "respond to the climate crisis," and expand and reorganize the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to promote equal rights and address any reverse discrimination. About 8.7 million people, or 19.6% of total eligible voters, had voted as of 6 p.m. (0900 GMT), according to National Election Commission data, the highest turnout for the equivalent period in a presidential poll and compared with 17.6% in the 2022 vote. South Korea has 44.39 million eligible voters and early voting is allowed on Thursday and Friday. The last published Gallup Korea poll before the blackout period put Lee at 49% public support, followed by Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party with 35% and the New Reform Party's Lee Jun-seok on 11%. Kim and Lee Jun-seok also voted on Thursday. "Without voting, there is no hope for the country," Kim said after voting in Democratic Party frontrunner Lee's constituency. "If you vote for [Lee], there will be no freedom for the country," he said, warning his main opponent would abuse his party's parliamentary majority. Kim had narrowed a gap of more than 20 percentage points with Lee Jae-myung at the start of the campaign on May 12, but has failed to convince Lee Jun-seok to drop out and back him to improve his chances. — Reuters
GMA Network
a day ago
- GMA Network
DFA rejects Chinese Embassy's claims over Pag-asa Island and cays
An aerial view shows Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea on March 9, 2023. REUTERS/ Eloisa Lopez/ File photo The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday rejected recent statements of the Chinese Embassy in Manila claiming Chinese ownership over Pag-asa Island and its cays and calling Philippine activities there 'illegal.' In a statement, the DFA emphasized that Pag-asa Island and its cays were part of the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG), where the Philippines has longstanding sovereignty and jurisdiction. 'The Philippines is clearly within its rights to conduct routine maritime operations and scientific research in and around these features, and will continue to do so,' the statement read. The DFA maintained that the country was following international law, specifically the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award, and the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). 'The actions of Philippine authorities in the area are a valid exercise of Philippine sovereignty and consistent with international law… China has no right to object much less interfere with these lawful and routine activities,' it added. In an interview on Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy spokesperson said that the Philippines violated the DOC's article 5, which stated that all Parties must 'exercise self-restraint' in conducting activities that might cause dispute and affect peace and stability. 'Nansha Qundao, including Tiexian Jiao, has always been China's territory. China has indisputable sovereignty over Nansha Qundao and its adjacent waters,' the statement said, using the Chinese names for the Spratly Islands and Sandy Cay respectively. China accused the Philippines of conducting 27 'unauthorized' landings involving 167 personnel 'in disregard of strong protests and representations from the Chinese side' since January 2025. They also claimed that the Philippines' 'scientific research' resembled a film production instead of actual research activity. 'The underlying intentions behind such activities are self-evident. It is clear which party initiated the provocation and which is engaging in deception… China will continue to take resolute measures to safeguard its territorial sovereignty, maintain Tiexian Jiao's status of no personnel or facilities, and steadfastly uphold the sanctity of the DOC,' the embassy spokesperson said. The DFA urged China to respect the Philippines' jurisdiction over the West Philippine Sea. Beijing claims almost all of the West Philippine Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual shipborne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal in Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines over China's claims in the South China Sea, saying that it had "no legal basis." China has not recognized the decision. — Jiselle Anne C. Casucian/BM, GMA Integrated News
