The Israel Defense Forces said they identified a missile attack coming from Yemen, in the early hours of Monday (8) local time.
Israeli defense systems would be operating to stop the aerial threat. Warning sirens sounded in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.
The attack from Yemen comes after Israel announced attacks on military targets in western and central Iran. Sounds of explosions were heard in the capital Tehran and other cities in the country.
Earlier, the Islamic Republic fired missiles at Israel in retaliation for an Israeli offensive in the region of Beirut, capital of Lebanon, against the paramilitary group Hezbollah, supported by Tehran.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement about the direct attack against Israel, warning the Israeli government to cease attacks against Lebanon and said that, if there were military retaliation, the actions that would follow would be “even more devastating”.
An advisor to Iran’s supreme leadership had already told the country’s state broadcaster that, in addition to the Strait of Hormuz, the Strait of Bab el-Mandab could be blocked if Israel carried out its threat to give a “powerful” response to the Iranian regime.
If the Strait of Hormuz, from the ports of Arab countries and Iran in the Persian Gulf, is where the main share of oil consumed by Asian countries flows, the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb is the main global maritime route between production lines in Asia and consumer markets in Europe, via the Suez Canal.
Yemen has been in a civil war for more than a week, with one of the actors in the conflict being the Houthis, who are allies of Tehran.
In late 2023, Houthi militants began attacking merchant ships passing through the strait in retaliation for Israel’s war in the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip.
The attacks led shipping companies to use longer routes (around the African continent, for example), adding weeks to journeys and forcing them to spend more on fuel, insurance and sailors’ salaries.
The strait, however, has remained stable throughout the current war in the Middle East, preserving an export route for Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter of crude oil, after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz.
Text being updated.
* With information from Reuters and CNN; published by Henrique Sales Barros
