(MENAFN) Reports indicate that Yemen’s Houthi armed group claimed responsibility on Thursday for a new "hypersonic ballistic missile" attack targeting an airport in central Israel earlier in the day.

"The Yemeni armed forces (Houthi armed forces) carried out a qualitative military operation targeting Ben Gurion Airport, using a hypersonic ballistic missile," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement broadcast by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

Sarea added, "The operation successfully achieved its goal ... and forced millions of Israelis to flee to shelters, as well as halting the airport operations."

He described the strike as "a victory for the oppressed Palestinian people" and a response to what he called the "crimes of genocide and starvation committed by the enemy in the Gaza Strip."

Earlier on Thursday, Israeli Defense Forces reported that a missile launched from Yemen toward Israel had been detected and intercepted by the country’s aerial defense systems.

The Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen including the capital Sanaa, have carried out attacks on Israeli targets since November 2023, citing solidarity with the Palestinian people amid the ongoing genocide on Gaza.

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