Israel says it intercepts Houthi missile, six killed

Israel says its air defences intercepted a surface-to-surface missile launched from Yemen and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement claimed it had fired several missiles at the Israeli Red Sea city of Eilat.

Sunday's attack prolonged an escalation of violence between Israel and the Houthis that began on Friday when the Yemeni group launched a drone that hit the centre of Tel Aviv, killing one man and wounding four others.

Israeli warplanes carried out an air raid near Yemen's Hodeidah port in response on Saturday, hitting what Israel said were Houthi military targets. Six people were killed and 80 others injured in the attack, medical sources in Yemen told Reuters, saying they were all civilians.

Images from the scene showed a fiery blaze and dense smoke rising from the site of the strike.

The Israeli military said its Arrow 3 missile defence system had shot down the projectile launched from Yemen on Sunday before it crossed into Israeli territory.

Before the interception, air raid sirens had sounded in Eilat, sending residents running for shelter.

The exchanges are part of a spillover from the more than nine-month-old Gaza war that has drawn in regional and world powers.

Iran-aligned groups including the Houthis have fired rockets and missiles at Israel saying they are doing so in support of Palestinians and the Islamist militant group Hamas that controls Gaza. The United States and its allies back Israel and provide weapons to it.

The war began on October 7 after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in which about 1200 people were killed, according to Israeli authorities. Israel has since bombed and invaded Gaza killing nearly 39,000 people, according to health officials in the enclave.

The Houthis, who control much of the north of Yemen and other large population centres, have previously claimed targeting Eilat and other attacks directed at Israel, saying they are acting in retaliation for Israel's war on Gaza.

Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet US President Joe Biden on Tuesday afternoon, the Israeli leader's office confirmed on Sunday.

Netanyahu is expected to depart for the United States on Monday, his office announced. Biden and Netanyahu last met in person in Tel Aviv shortly after the massacres by the Palestinian militant Islamist organisation Hamas on October 7.

According to media reports, the discussion is expected to focus primarily on efforts to secure a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict and the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

In Israel, there has been criticism of Netanyahu's overseas trip. Protesters demanded that he should only leave the country after an agreement on the hostages' release has been reached.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu is to address both chambers of the US Congress regarding Israel's military actions in the Gaza.

Relations between Biden and Netanyahu are considered strained. Netanyahu recently sparked a crisis with a video in which he harshly criticised the US government for holding back a weapons delivery.

with DPA and AP