Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday that they would ban Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea.
Earlier on Monday, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis fired rockets at central Israel. No injuries were reported.
The military spokesperson for the Houthis, Yahya Saree, announced on Monday that a ban on Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea is now in effect, and that any Israeli target will be attacked. He further warned that "escalation will be met with escalation, and our operations will intensify in accordance with developments."
The statement, which came after rocket attacks from the region, took credit for strikes on central Israel, with Saree saying that "under the principle of the 'Unity of the Fronts' and in response to Israeli aggression against Lebanon, Iran, and Gaza, our forces launched a missile barrage at sensitive targets in 'occupied Jaffa'."
Earlier this morning, air raid sirens echoed across large swathes of Israel after the Houthis in Yemen fired a missile toward the central region. The escalation follows Iran's decision on Sunday to launch a direct strike against Israel, which Tehran claimed was retaliation for an Israeli raid on Hezbollah targets in the Dahiyeh district of Beirut.
Following several overnight missile barrages from Iran to Israel, the Houthis now appear to have joined the Iranian offensive in full force, with their morning missile launch triggering sirens across Israel's central and Shefela (lowland) regions.
Rocket sirens sounding repeatedly, first triggered by Houthi launch from Yemen
In response to the initial overnight attacks, the IDF struck targets inside Iran, including a petrochemical plant in Mahshahr.
Rocket sirens have sounded repeatedly since early morning. The first was triggered by the Houthis' launch from Yemen, followed by a succession of Iranian missile salvos that sent residents to shelters across the Jordan Valley, Jerusalem, the greater Tel Aviv area (Gush Dan), Beer Sheva, and parts of the West Bank.