Israel says it intercepts missile fired from Yemen, Houthis say they targeted Eilat

JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) - Israel said its air defences intercepted a surface-to-surface missile launched from Yemen on Sunday and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement said it had fired several missiles at the Israeli Red Sea city of Eilat.

The attack prolonged an escalation of violence between Israel and the Houthis that began on Friday when the Yemeni group launched a drone that hit the centre of Tel Aviv, killing one man and wounding four others.

Israeli warplanes carried out an air raid near Yemen's Hodeidah port in response on Saturday, hitting what Israel said were Houthi military targets. Six people were killed and 80 others injured in the attack, medical sources in Yemen told Reuters on Sunday, saying that they were all civilians.

Images from the scene showed a fiery blaze and dense smoke rising from the site of the strike.

The Israeli military said its Arrow 3 missile defence system had shot down the projectile launched from Yemen on Sunday before it crossed into Israeli territory.

Before the interception, air raid sirens had sounded in Eilat, sending residents running for shelter.

The exchanges are part of a spillover from the more than nine-month-old Gaza war that has drawn in regional and world powers.

Iran-aligned groups including the Houthis have fired rockets and missiles at Israel saying they are doing so in support of Palestinians and the Islamist militant group Hamas that controls Gaza. The United States and its allies back Israel and provide weapons to it.

The war began on Oct. 7 after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli authorities. Israel has since bombed and invaded Gaza killing nearly 39,000 people, according to health officials in the enclave.

The Houthis, who control much of the north of Yemen and other large population centres, have previously claimed targeting Eilat and other attacks directed at Israel, saying they are acting in retaliation for Israel's war on Gaza.

The group has also attacked Red Sea shipping routes for months.

Hamas' allies include Iran-backed groups such as the Houthis, Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraqi paramilitaries.

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch, Jaidaa Taha, Muhammad Al Gebaly and Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by John Davison; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Frances Kerry)