Yemen's Houthi rebels launch long-range missiles toward Israel in new attack: statement

SANAA, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi rebels said on Wednesday that they have launched long-range missiles toward Israel, in a new operation to revenge the Israeli attacks on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza Strip.

"The winged missiles targeted various military targets of the Israeli entity in Eilat," the militia's spokesman Yehya Sarea said in a statement aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

"We will continue to carry out more military operations until the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank stops," he said, without providing further details.

This is the ninth cross-border missile attack claimed by the Yemeni Houthi rebels since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct. 7.

The United States announced last month that one of its navy ships in northern Red Sea intercepted several missiles fired from Yemen toward Israel.

On Sunday, the Houthis announced that they had hijacked what they said an "Israeli ship" near Bab-el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea and took it to the port city of Hodeidah.

On Monday, the Houthis released footage showing that they used a military helicopter and boats when they hijacked the ship.

The Houthis have been in control of much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeidah since the Yemeni civil war broke out in late 2014.