Yemen's Houthis claim fresh drone attacks at Israeli targets in Eilat

SANAA, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saturday said they have launched cross-border drone attacks on several targets in Israel's southern city of Eilat.

"We have carried out a military operation on sensitive targets in Eilat using a large batch of drones," Yehya Sarea, Houthi military spokesman, said in a statement aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

"We confirm that we will continue to attack Israel until its aggression against our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip stops," he added, without elaborating further.

There were no comments yet from Israel on the Houthi attacks, but the Egyptian local media reported that Egypt's air defenses this morning shot down a suspected drone on Egypt's eastern Sinai coast, about 120 kilometers south of Eilat.

This is the latest cross-border attack claimed by the Houthis since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct. 7.

The attack came less than 24 hours after another missile attack launched by the Houthi fighters and targeted two Israel-bound cargo ships in the southern part of the Red Sea, near Bab al-Mandab Strait. There were no reports of casualties in the ships' crews.

The Houthi rebel group has vowed to prevent all Israel-bound commercial ships from passing through the Red Sea until the ongoing Israeli war on the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip ends.

The Yemeni Houthi rebels control much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.