Cairo: Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group announced on Sunday that it had launched a missile strike on Israel’s central region in coordination with Iran, marking a significant escalation and the first time such collaboration has been publicly confirmed.

In a televised address, Houthi military spokesperson Yehya Sarea stated that the group had fired multiple ballistic missiles at central Israel, specifically targeting the Jaffa area, over the past 24 hours. "This operation was coordinated with the operations carried out by the Iranian army against the criminal Israeli enemy," he declared, framing the action as solidarity with the Palestinian and Iranian peoples.

The Israeli military had earlier reported missile alerts across several regions following launches from both Iran and Yemen. According to Israeli sources, a missile from Yemen fell in Hebron, located in the occupied West Bank, on the same day that Israel initiated its largest military offensive against Iran. The Houthis did not confirm responsibility for that specific incident.

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, assault on Israeli territory, the Houthis have repeatedly launched missile and drone attacks towards Israel, claiming to act in defence of Palestinians in Gaza. Most of these attacks have been intercepted, but the recent claims of coordinated strikes with Iran raise alarm about a broader regional axis of resistance.

Israel has continued a series of retaliatory operations against Houthi positions, and the United States had also launched intensified strikes against the group earlier this year. However, former President Donald Trump later ordered a pause in US operations following a Houthi assurance to halt attacks on American vessels.

This latest development is likely to increase international scrutiny over Iran's role in regional hostilities and may prompt further military and diplomatic responses from both Israel and the United States.