Sanaa, Dec 24: Yemen’s Houthi group said it attacked Israel with two drones, targeting military sites.

In a statement aired on Monday by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said the first attack targeted a military target in the Ashkelon area, and the other hit a military target in Tel Aviv.

He claimed that these attacks had achieved “the goals” but did not specify the alleged targets or provide evidence to support his claim.

“These operations will not stop until the Israeli aggression on Gaza stops and the siege is lifted,” he added.

Following the Houthi drone attack, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz issued a warning, saying, “We will strike the Houthis hard, target their strategic infrastructure, and decapitate their leaders.”

The Israeli military said the attack was intercepted by its air defence systems.

The Houthi attacks followed Hamas’ announcement on Saturday that a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip is “closer than ever” if Israel stops setting new conditions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said on Monday that “there has been progress” in efforts to secure a ceasefire-for-hostages deal with Hamas, but cautioned that the timeline for reaching an agreement remains unclear.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have been carrying out rocket and drone attacks on Israeli cities and disrupting “Israeli-linked” shipping in the Red Sea to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas conflict there.

The Houthi group has been controlling much of northern Yemen since late 2014, forcing the internationally recognised Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa.

Gaza, Dec 23: At least 23 Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.

At least nine people, including three children and two women, were killed, and some others were injured as a result of the Israeli bombing of the Musa bin Nusayr School on Sunday, which houses displaced people in the Al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City.

Four more people were killed when the Israeli army bombed a vehicle on the Al-Jalaa Street in Gaza City, it added.

Five citizens, including four children, were killed on Sunday morning in Israel’s shelling of the Jabalia town, north of Gaza City, WAFA said in a separate report.

In the southern Gaza Strip, two people were killed when the Israeli army bombed their apartment west of Khan Yunis, and three others died in the Israeli bombing of the city of Rafah, WAFA said.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Sunday that with the direction of intelligence, the air force conducted a “precise strike” on Hamas militants who were operating inside a command-and-control center in the Gaza Strip.

The command-and-control center, which was embedded inside a compound that previously served as the Musa bin Nusayr School, was used by the militants to plan and execute attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel, it added.

Israel has been on a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 45,227, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Saturday.

Gaza, Dec 21: At least 18 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the central and northern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian sources.

Local sources and eyewitnesses reported that Israeli warplanes targeted an apartment in the multi-story “Yaffa” tower in the al-Nuseirat camp, located in central Gaza.

A statement from Al-Awda Hospital in the camp confirmed that eight people were killed and 14 others injured, some seriously, in the attack.

In northern Gaza, Israeli shelling struck a house belonging to the “Khilla” family in Jabalia Al-Balad, killing 10 people and injuring several others, according to the Gaza Strip’s Civil Defence.

The Israeli army has not commented on these incidents.

Also on Friday, the military wing of Hamas, Al-Qassam Brigades, announced that one of its fighters had carried out a suicide attack targeting an Israeli force of six soldiers in Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza.

The Israeli army has not issued a comment on this incident.

Earlier on Thursday at least 16 Palestinians were killed by Israeli bombings in northern Gaza, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.

At least 10 people were killed on Wednesday night and some others injured when the Israeli aircraft bombed the house of the Al-Najjar family in the town of Jabalia, WAFA said.

Six more people were killed due to Israeli bombing on the house of the Al-Zaytouniya family near the Al-Tabi’in School in the Al-Daraj neighborhood, east of Gaza City, it added.

The Israeli army has not commented on these incidents.

Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza in retaliation for the October 7, 2023 Hamas assault on southern Israel, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 250 hostages taken.

As of Friday, the Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza has risen to 45,206, according to Gaza-based health authorities.