THE Israeli military said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen early today, hours after Israeli warplanes struck several Houthi targets in the Arabian Peninsula country.

The Israeli air strikes — in response to a deadly Houthi drone strike on Tel Aviv — were the first time the IDF is known to have responded to repeated Houthi attacks throughout its nine-month destruction of Gaza.

The Israeli army confirmed the air strikes in the western Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, a Houthi stronghold, late on Saturday. It said the strikes, carried out by US-made F-15 and F-35 warplanes, were a response to hundreds of Houthi attacks.