New Israeli air strikes target Beirut suburbs, border clashes

This live blog has now wrapped up. The New Arab will be back at 9am with live updates from Gaza and Lebanon.

A source close to Hezbollah said Israel had conducted 11 consecutive strikes on south Beirut suburbs late Thursday, in one of the most violent raids since Israel intensified its bombardment campaign last week.

AFP correspondents in the capital and beyond heard loud bangs that made car alarms go off and building shake.

About an hour later, AFP journalists heard several explosions coming from the direction of the southern suburbs after the Israeli military ordered residents of the Hadath neighbourhood to evacuate.

"Israel struck the southern suburbs 11 consecutive times," the source said on the condition of anonymity.

AFP footage showed giant balls of flame rising from the targeted site with thick smoke billowing and flares shooting out.

Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said "more than 10 consecutive strikes have been recorded so far, in one of the strongest raids on the southern suburbs of Beirut since the start of the Israeli war on Lebanon".

The strikes echoed to mountain regions outside Beirut, the NNA said.

Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday he will not negotiate in public when asked if he had urged Israel not to attack Iran's oil facilities.

Israel has been weighing options to respond to Tehran's ballistic missile attack on Tuesday. The U.S. said then it would work with Israel to make sure Iran faced severe consequences.

Biden earlier in the day contributed to a surge in global oil prices when he said Washington was discussing strikes on Iran's oil facilities. A U.S. official later said Washington does not believe Israel has decided yet how to respond to Iran.

Biden on Wednesday said the U.S. did not support any Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites.

The governor of Michigan has urged the U.S. government to do more to rescue Americans, many of them from Michigan, stuck in Lebanon amid Israel's brutal military offensive in the country.

"We are already hearing reports of confirmed deaths and fear there will be more. We cannot stand by while our constituents and their families are suffering," Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The letter, dated Tuesday, was shared with Reuters by her office on Thursday.

An American from Dearborn, Michigan, Kamel Ahmad Jawad, was killed in Lebanon in an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday, according to his daughter, friend and the U.S. congresswoman representing his constituency. Democratic U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib's office said he was a U.S. citizen.

In a post on X earlier on Thursday, Tlaib said the U.S. government's "lack of urgency to get Americans out of Lebanon is shameful."

Al Jazeera has reported that the latest strikes in Beirut were significantly larger and louder than those targeting Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last week, according to their correspondent on the ground.

The strikes reportedly hit and completely flattened several residential buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been the focal point of Israel’s nightly bombings on the Lebanese capital.

A video posted by Lebanese news outlet Al Jadeed captures footage of the latest wave of strikes.

العدو الاسرائيلي يشن غارات عنيفة على مناطق متفرقة من الضاحية الجنوبية pic.twitter.com/qAJz9BBh3g

— Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) October 3, 2024

Thirty seven people were killed and 151 wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon in the past 24 hours, the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement early on Friday.

A source close to Hezbollah said another Israeli strike has targeted a warehouse next to Beirut airport, in the capital's south.

"An Israeli air strike targeted a warehouse adjacent to the airport," the source told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. It was unclear what the warehouse contained.

The death toll of the Israeli strike on Tulkarm has risen again to 18, the Palestinian health ministry has said.

Lebanon's state-run media said multiple Israeli strikes hit south Beirut on Thursday after the Israeli army issued new evacuation orders for parts of the Hezbollah stronghold.

"Enemy aircraft" launched a series of "strikes targeting the southern suburbs" in Beirut, the official National News Agency (NNA) said.

The attacks come shortly after Israel’s military spokesman issued a call for residents of Beirut’s southern Burj al-Barajneh area and several nearby buildings to evacuate.

The death toll in the Israeli strike on Tulkarm has risen to 16 people.

"Sixteen martyrs following the bombing of the Tulkarm camp by the occupation," the Palestinian health ministry said on its Telegram account.

At least 14 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on the Tulkarm refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said on Thursday.

The Israeli military earlier said in a statement that it had conducted a strike on Tulkarm, without providing more details.

Violence has surged in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, with almost daily sweeps by Israeli forces that have involved thousands of arrests and regular gunbattles between security forces and Palestinian fighters.

Leaders of the G7 countries on Thursday voiced concern over the "deteriorating situation" in the Middle East while warning against further "uncontrollable escalation" in the region.

G7 leaders "express deep concern over the deteriorating situation in the Middle East and condemn in the strongest terms Iran's direct military attack against Israel," they said in a statement, warning that the "dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation risks fuelling uncontrollable escalation... which is in no one's interest".

Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, reported that three UNRWA schools in Gaza were hit within the past two days. In a post on X, Lazzarini stated that at least 21 people were killed.

"More than 140 UNRWA schools have come under attack since 7 October, the majority while people were taking refuge in them under the UN flag," he said.

He emphasized, "Schools cannot be used for any military purposes by anyone. Schools are not a target."

Lazzarini also condemned the violations, stating, "These are some of the basic rules of war blatantly disregarded."

#Gaza: in the past two days alone, three @UNRWA schools were hit in Gaza.
At least 21 people were reported killed.
The schools were home for more than 20,000 displaced people.
Some schools were hit more than once since the war began.

More than 140 UNRWA schools have come…

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) October 3, 2024

Colombia's Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo and Defence Minister Iván Velásquez Gómez personally welcomed evacuees arriving in Bogotá on a humanitarian flight from Lebanon. According to the country's defense ministry, the flight brought home 117 Colombian citizens. The air force plane that facilitated their return also delivered aid to Lebanon, as reported by the ministry on X.

El Canciller @LuisGMurillo en nombre del Gobierno Nacional le dio la bienvenida a todos los connacionales que se encontraban en Líbano y llegaron en el vuelo humanitario.

¡Seguiremos asistiendo a todos nuestros colombianos! pic.twitter.com/08SgicOqme

— Cancillería Colombia (@CancilleriaCol) October 3, 2024

FIFA's disciplinary committee will be asked to look into allegations of discrimination raised by the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) in connection with the war in Gaza, soccer's global governing body said on Thursday.

"The FIFA Disciplinary Committee will be mandated to initiate an investigation into the alleged offence of discrimination raised by the Palestine Football Association," FIFA said in a statement.

The PFA had submitted a proposal to have Israel suspended in May over the war in Gaza, with FIFA ordering an urgent legal evaluation.

The Israeli army on Thursday said its death toll from fighting in southern Lebanon rose to nine, as the military continued to target Hezbollah positions across the border.

"Captain Ben Zion Falach, aged 21... fell yesterday (Wednesday), during combat in southern Lebanon," the army said in a statement.

Leading humanitarian groups on Thursday called for a ceasefire in Lebanon, voicing concern at the growing impact of Israel's conflict with Hezbollah on civilians.

"The last couple of weeks have been a complete nightmare," said Jennifer Moorehead, Lebanon country director for Save the Children.

More than 1.2 million people or 20 percent of the population had left their homes and were on the move, she said, creating a "crisis of alarming proportions", Beirut-based Moorehead told a video conference.

Israel has launched massive air strikes on Hezbollah and this week sent ground forces across its northern border, which the Iran-backed group has hit with repeated rocket attacks in the last 12 months.

Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold has also been hit in a series of attacks.

Representatives from rights monitor Amnesty International, aid agency Oxfam, medical charity Medecins du Monde, as well as Refugees International and Action Against Hunger called the situation "dire".

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said on Thursday it had launched an attack on southern Israel, without providing further details.

Islamic Resistance is an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed groups which have been conducting attacks on Israeli or US assets in the region since last October, in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

British Airways on Thursday said it was suspending London-Tel Aviv services until the end of the month as tensions mount in the Middle East.

"We ... have taken the operational decision to cancel our flights to Tel Aviv up to and including Saturday 26 October 2024," the company announced.

Lebanon's state-run media said a new Israeli strike hit Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold on Thursday after three earlier strikes on the same area following an intense night of bombardment.

"An enemy raid targeted, just now, (Beirut's) southern suburbs," the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

AFP correspondents heard two loud explosions and saw smoke rising from the southern suburbs.

A source close to the group told AFP that the earlier strikes had "targeted a building housing Hezbollah's media relations office", which had already been "evacuated".

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Thursday expressed his "full support" for Lebanon and said he ordered the provision of aid to the embattled country in light of attacks by Israel.

"I affirm the State of Qatar's full support for Lebanon and its brotherly people against the brutal attacks they are being subjected to," the emir said on social media platform X, adding that he has ordered "rapid action and the provision of all necessary resources" to provide aid to affected communities.

At least 28 on-duty medics have been killed in the past 24 hours in Lebanon, where Israel has launched airstrikes and sent troops to fight Hezbollah in an escalating conflict, the World Health Organization chief said on Thursday.

"Many (other) health workers are not reporting to duty and fled the areas where they work due to bombardments," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told an online press briefing, calling for stronger protections for health workers.

"This is severely limiting the provision of mass trauma management and continuity of health services," he said.

The global health agency will not be able to deliver a large planned shipment of trauma and medical supplies to the country on Friday due to flight restrictions, he added.

WHO's representative in Lebanon Dr Abdinasir Abubakar told the briefing that all of the healthcare workers killed in the past day had been on duty, helping with the wounded.

A total of nearly 2,000 people have been killed, including 127 children, and 9,384 injured since the start of Israeli attacks on Lebanon over the last year, the country's health ministry said.

"Hospitals have been already evacuated. I think what I can say for now is the capacity for mass casualty management exists, but it's just a matter of time until the system actually reaches its limit," said the WHO's Abubakar.

(Reuters)

US President Joe Biden said he was discussing possible Israeli strikes on Iranian oil sites in retaliation for Tehran's missile barrage on Israel, in comments that quickly sent oil prices spiking Thursday.

"We're discussing that. I think that would be a little... anyway," Biden told reporters at the White House when asked if he supported Israel striking Iran's oil facilities.

Biden said he did not expect any immediate action from Israel -- even if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently paid little heed to calls for restraint as he targets the Iran-allied Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

"First of all, we don't 'allow' Israel, we advise Israel. And there is nothing going to happen today," Biden told reporters when asked if he would allow Israel to retaliate against Iran.

Biden said on Wednesday that he would not back Israel attacking Iranian nuclear sites.

Israel's war on Gaza has injured over 96,000 people throughout the past twelve months with thousands of those involving people with limb injuries.

Isabelle Defourny, Doctor and President of Médecins Sans Frontières, who has just returned from a mission to Gaza, told a press briefing on Thursday that up to 8,000 people in Gaza are now amputees, with 15 percent of them in need of rehabilitation care.

Defourny said that basic living conditions in the strip were not being met and warned that Israel is still obstructing aid delivery into the Strip, making it difficult for aid agencies to operate by being unclear and arbitrary about what goods can enter.

Defourny also said that 12,000 in Gaza are in need of medical evacuation.

International NGO Medicins du Monde warned on Thursday that Lebanon could encounter similar disease outbreaks to those of Gaza as a result of overcrowded shelters and a weak health system.

The fighting of the past two weeks prompted some 1 million people to become displaced in the tiny country, with many now housed in makeshift centres and lacking basic needs.

Ahmad Cherif Deputy Medical Coordinator at Médecins du Monde told an online press briefing on Thursday that skin diseases, like scabies, are spreading in shelters and responders are facing a medicine shortage.

Cherif said that most people left home in a rush, without medicine needs and are now dependent on aid.

He said 2.2 million in the country are in need of humanitarian support and warned that prices of mattresses and medicines had "doubled" as a result of the demand.

The Israeli military said it hit Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in Beirut on Thursday amid a flurry of strikes targeting the group's positions in the Lebanese capital.

Israeli fighter jets "struck targets belonging to Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in Beirut, including terror operatives belonging to the unit, intelligence-gathering means, command centres and additional terrorist infrastructure," the military said in a statement.

A total of 1,974 people have been killed, including 127 children, and 9,384 injured since the start of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon over the last year, the country's health minister Firass Abiad said on Thursday.

Abiad said more than 40 rescuers and firefighters were killed by Israeli fire in three days, with 97 killed overall since Hezbollah and Israel began clashing last October.

"In the past three days, more than 40 martyrs have fallen in Lebanon among those working in ambulances and fire trucks," Firass Abiad told reporters, adding that 97 "paramedics and firefighters" had been killed since fighting began.

The toll includes rescuers in organisations affiliated with Hezbollah or other Lebanese parties.

Dubai-based Emirates Thursday said it has cancelled flights to Iraq, Iran and Jordan for three days over "regional unrest", after an Iranian missile strike on Israel stoked fears of a wider war.

"Emirates is cancelling all flights to/from Iraq (Basra and Baghdad), Iran (Tehran), and Jordan (Amman) on 4th and 5th October due to regional unrest," said the airline, which also halted services to the destinations on Thursday.

Iran summoned the German and Austrian ambassadors on Thursday after their governments rebuked the Islamic republic over its missile attack on Israel, state media reported.

The move, according to the official IRNA news agency, was in response to the "unacceptable measures" by Germany and Austria in summoning the Iranian envoys over Iran's attack on Tuesday.

Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement that the attack was a "legitimate, responsible and effective response in punishing the aggressor Zionist regime (Israel)".

The Islamic republic on Tuesday evening launched around 200 missiles at Israel in its second-ever direct attack on its sworn enemy, following a missile and drone attack in April.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the attack was in retaliation for the killing last month of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah alongside Tehran's Quds Force commander Abbas Nilforoushan, as well as Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who died in a July bombing in Tehran.

The attack triggered international criticism of the Islamic republic.

Also on Thursday, foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei, condemned what he called "the continued biased and irresponsible approach" of the G7 group after it criticised the attack on Israel.

He also condemned the group's call for further sanctions against Tehran, saying the attack was a "necessary response" to Israel's "aggressive actions

The Lebanese army said on Thursday that a soldier had been killed by the "Israeli enemy" targeting and army base in the Bint Jbeil area in south Lebanon.

It said that the army responded to the source of fire. It is the second Lebanese soldier to be killed in Israeli strikes today after a soldier was killed after an Lebanese Red Cross and army convoy was hit by a strike.

The Lebanese Red Cross said on Thursday that five members of its team suffered minor injuries in an attack on its convoy in the southern village of Taybeh.

The five wounded medics have been transferred to hospital alongside an Lebanese army soldier who was killed in the Israeli strike.

The Red Cross said the injuries are "minor and do not cause concern".

"The Lebanese Red Cross continues to perform its humanitarian duty," it added.

The Lebanese Army said in a statement earlier on Thursday that one of its soldiers was killed in the attack.

Lebanese group Hezbollah said on Thursday its forces detonated an explosive device which hit Israeli army unit near Maroun al-Ras just inside the Lebanese border.

It said the attack resulted in "killed and injured" fighters from the Golani Brigade.

Clashes are ongoing along the Lebanese border following Israel's infiltration overnight Monday. The army said eight troops were killed and claimed to have killed 15  Hzbollah fighters.

Three large explosions were heard across Beirut's southern suburbs, believed to be Israeli airstrikes on the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of Dahiyeh.

Locals said the blasts could be heard across the city and follow a night of deadly attacks.

The Israeli military is yet to issue a statement.

Air strikes were also reported in the Mount Lebanon governorate in the town of Maaysra in Ftouh Keserwan for a second time, and in Kayfoun to the east of Beirut.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on world leaders on Thursday to stop "Israel's aggression" against Palestinians in Gaza and in Lebanon.

Abbas was speaking at the Third Summit of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue in Doha and said that 90 percent of Gaza's infrastructure had been destroyed in nearly a year of Israeli attacks.

"This summit is being held while the region is facing great dangers due to the insistence of the Israeli occupation state on the approach of aggression and violence, as the Palestinian people, including our athletes, as well as the Lebanese people, are being subjected to a brutal Israeli aggression, which has claimed the lives of thousands of children, women and the elderly."  

Israeli air strikes and artillery shelling were reported in the Tyre district in south Lebanon on Thursday, Lebanon's official news agency said.

Strikes hit near the towns of Aitat and Jwaya with artillery shelling near the border area, NNA said.

Hezbollah have been launching missiles into Israel on Thursday, including to Tiberia and the Western Galilee area. The Israeli army said some of the projectiles were intercepted while others fell.

The Shia militant group said its targeted Israel's Shomera settlement with a Falaq missile and the Avivim settlement with a missile salvo.

Loud explosions were heard on Thursday in the countryside around the Syrian capital Damascus, the state news agency SANA reported. No further details were immediately given. 

Earlier on Thursday Iran's Student News Network reported that a consultant working for Iran's Revolutionary Guards died from injuries sustained in an Israeli air attack on Damascus on Monday.

It identified the consultant as Majid Divani, without giving further details.

The attack appeared to be the same as one reported by Syrian state media, which said on Tuesday that three civilians were killed and nine others injured in an Israeli airstrike on the Syrian capital Damascus.

Syrian air defences intercepted "hostile targets" over the vicinity of Damascus three times in a row in one night, following explosions that were heard in the capital, state media said on Tuesday.

When asked about the reported attack, the Israeli military said on Tuesday that it does not comment on foreign media reports.

Israel has been carrying out strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years but has ramped up such raids since last year's Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on southern Israel.

A Lebanese Red Cross and Lebanese army convoy has been hit while evacuating casualties in Taybeh village in south Beirut, the LRC said.

One solider was killed and four Lebanese Red Cross volunteers were wounded in the strike in the Marjeyoun district. In a statement, the medical team said its "movements are always coordinated with UNIFIL," and said its convoy was "targeted".

OCHA Lebanon said on Thursday that it had recorded 38 attacks on healthcare facilities which have killed 40 health workers. 

Last week, 25 health workers were killed in Israeli airstrikes, OCHA said.

The Israeli military on Thursday issued a warning to residents of over 20 more towns in south Lebanon to evacuate their homes immediately, spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on X.

Adraee said that anyone "who is near Hezbollah elements, installations, and combat equipment" is in danger and called on residents to move north.

This is one of several warnings issued to residents of the south since Israel's ground incursion began on Tuesday morning. Twenty-five towns are listed by Adraee as needing to evacuate.

#عاجل ‼️ تحذير عاجل لسكان القرى التالية في جنوب لبنان: الخرايب, ارزي, زرارية, عدلون, أنصارية, مزرعة دير تقلا, مزرعة الواسطة, مزرعة جمجم, قصيبه, جبشيت, نبطية, مزرعة سيناي, دوير الشرقية, كفر رمان, نبطية الفوقا, منزلة, ,حبوش ,الحمصية, بيصرية, السكسكية, لوبية, كفر تبنيت, أرنون, زوطر… pic.twitter.com/bcENOdWKN1

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) October 3, 2024

The European Union on Thursday said it was giving an extra 30 million euros ($33 million) of humanitarian aid to Lebanon as fighting raged between Israel and Hezbollah.

"Today, we are stepping up our humanitarian aid to the people of Lebanon," said European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

"Our new funding will ensure civilians receive much needed assistance during this very difficult time.

"I am extremely concerned by the constant escalation of tensions in the Middle East. All parties must do their utmost to protect the lives of innocent civilians."

The latest EU aid package comes on top of 10 million euros announced over the weekend, taking the bloc's humanitarian assistance for Lebanon to over 100 million euros this year.

The World Health Organization chief warned Tuesday that Lebanon's health system was struggling to keep up, after Israel escalated airstrikes and launched ground raids into the country.

"The death toll in Lebanon is rising, and hospitals are overwhelmed with the influx of injured patients," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on X.

"The health system has been weakened by successive crises and is struggling to cope with the immense needs," he said, adding that WHO was scaling up its response.

Read more here.

Gaza's health ministry has issued its daily report on the number of dead and wounded from ongoing Israeli strikes.

Its hospitals received 99 dead and 169 injured people in the past day, bringing the total of dead to 41,788 Palestinians and 96,794 wounded since Oct. 7 2024.

Health officials fear the death toll could be higher considering the number of people trapped under rubble and inaccessible for rescue teams.

Seven members of Beirut's civil defense team and paramedic team were killed in an Israeli strike in central Beirut last night, the civil defense operations room said on Thursday.

A strike targeted a floor of an apartment block in the Bashoura neighbourhood at around 1:30am local time. Hezbollah’s civil defense unit said seven of its members were killed.

The Civil Defense Operations Room of the Health Authority named the seven killed:

1. Raja Ramez Zureik (Civil Defense Officer in the Beirut area).

2. Mahdi Adnan Halbawi (Assistant Civil Defense Officer and Director of Beirut Area Operations).

3. Wissam Mahmoud Salhab (Equipment Officer in the Civil Defense in the Beirut area).

4. Ahmed Mohammed Hayek (Machinery and Maintenance Officer in the Civil Defense in the Beirut region).

5. Mustafa Ali Al-Moussawi (rescue officer in the Civil Defense in the Beirut area).

6. Volunteer paramedic Sajid Shawky Sherri.

7. Volunteer paramedic Hassan Ali Al-Khansa.

The Israeli military on Thursday said a strike three months ago killed three senior Hamas leaders in Gaza, where the army has been battling the Palestinian militants for nearly a year.

The military said the strike killed Rawhi Mushtaha, the head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, and Sameh al-Siraj, who held the security portfolio for Hamas's political bureau, and Sami Oudeh, a commander.

"Mushtaha was one of Hamas' most senior operatives and had a direct impact on decisions relating to Hamas' force deployment," said the military in a statement.

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee accused the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah on Thursday of smuggling weapons from Syria through the Masnaa border crossing. 

Lebanon's Hezbollah said it confronted on Thursday an attempt by Israeli forces to advance at the Fatima Gate border roundabout, according to a statement published by the militant group.

The British government has chartered a limited number of flights to support its citizens to leave Lebanon, it said on Thursday, repeating its advice for them to leave the country immediately.

More than 150 British nationals and dependents left Beirut on a government chartered flight on Wednesday, the statement said.

"To meet the demand for the charter flight on Wednesday, additional flights will depart from Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport from Thursday. The flights will continue for as long as the security situation allows," it added. 

(Reuters)

Lebanon said Wednesday that the death toll had risen to 1,928, with 9,290 injured since Oct. 8, 2023, in Israeli attacks against the country.

The Disaster Risk Management Unit reported that 134 Israeli airstrikes and shelling attacks were recorded in the last two days, primarily targeting southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs.

The report added that 55 people were killed and 156 injured in the last 24 hours, bringing the numbers since Oct. 8, 2023, to 1,928 fatalities and 9,290 wounded.

It noted the number displaced has risen to 1.2 million, with 160,200 registered in shelters.

The Israeli military said on Thursday it killed approximately 15 Hezbollah members after striking the municipality building of southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil where it said fighters of the Iran-backed group were operating.

(Reuters)

Flights have resumed in Iran since Thursday morning, state media reported the country's Civil Aviation Organisation as saying, after restrictions were imposed on Tuesday when Tehran launched missiles at Israel.

(Reuters)

Yemen's Houthis on Thursday said they carried out a drone attack on Tel Aviv, although there was no direct confirmation from Israeli authorities.

In a statement, the Huthis said they "carried out a military operation targeting a vital target in the Jaffa (Tel Aviv) area in occupied Palestine with a number of Jaffa drones".

"The operation achieved its goals successfully as the drones reached their targets without the enemy being able to confront or shoot them down."

The Israeli military said it intercepted "a suspicious aerial target" off central Israel overnight, without giving further details.

On Wednesday, the Huthis claimed to have fired cruise missiles at Israel, following Iran's mass bombardment of the country the night before.

Last week, the rebels said they fired a missile at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, prompting Israeli air strikes on Yemen including the vital port of Hodeida.

The Huthis, who have controlled large swathes of war-torn Yemen for a decade, are part of Iran's "Axis of Resistance" against Israel and the United States.

Since November, they have been attacking ships off Yemen's coast in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in what they say is a show of solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.