Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that "Israel will respond forcefully to attacks targeting it," threatening that the Houthis "will pay a heavy price" after a missile was fired from Yemen toward Israel earlier this morning, setting off air raid sirens in the Tel Aviv area and activating air defense systems, without confirming the success of the interception operation.

Speaking about the confrontations with Hezbollah, Netanyahu stressed at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting that the current situation in the north “will not continue,” reiterating his pledge to “take all necessary measures to return the residents of the north to their homes safely.” He also said that Israel was confronting the “Iranian axis of evil” and would continue its operations to “destroy Hamas and ensure its security.”

This came after the Yemeni Ansar Allah group (Houthis) announced that it had launched a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a "military target" in the city of Jaffa, hours after the Israeli army announced that a missile had fallen in an "open area" in the Tel Aviv area and the center of the country.

Netanyahu said: "We are in a multi-front battle against the Iranian axis of evil that seeks to destroy us. This morning, the Houthis fired a surface-to-surface missile from Yemen toward our territory. They should have already realized that we pay a heavy price for every attempt to attack us."

"Whoever needs to be reminded of this, please visit the port of Hodeidah. Anyone who attacks us will not escape our punishment. Hamas has begun to learn this through our decisive operations that will lead to its destruction and the release of all our prisoners," he added.

Regarding the situation in the north, he said: “I have visited the north. I understand the demands of the people of the north. I speak with them and with the heads of the local authorities in the north. I see the suffering, and I hear their cries. The current situation will not continue. This requires a change in the balance of power on our northern border. We will do whatever is necessary to return our people to their homes safely. I am committed to this, and the government is committed to it, and we will not accept anything less.”

In a statement, the Israeli army said that an initial examination concluded that the rocket, which was fired "at 06:21 from Yemen towards Israel," "exploded in the air," adding that it carried out "several interception attempts through the Arrow and Iron Dome systems, the results of which are being examined," stressing that "the entire incident is under examination."

The Houthi military spokesman, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said in a video clip via "X": "The missile force in the Yemeni armed forces carried out a qualitative military operation through which it targeted a military target in the Jaffa area in occupied Palestine. The operation was carried out with a new hypersonic ballistic missile," noting that "the enemy's defenses failed to intercept and confront it."

Saree explained that the missile "succeeded in reaching its target, covering a distance of 2,040 km in 11.5 minutes." Saree stressed that the operation comes as "a victory for the injustice of the Palestinian people and their mujahideen."

Since last November, the Houthis have launched dozens of missile and drone attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, which they believe are linked to Israel or heading to its ports. They say this comes in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in light of the ongoing war there.

Over the past few months, the Houthis have repeatedly claimed to have targeted the Israeli city of Eilat and its port, but their July 19 drone attack was the first to target Tel Aviv, killing one Israeli and wounding others. Israel responded the next day with airstrikes on the port of Hodeidah, killing at least six people and causing extensive damage to the strategic Houthi-controlled port.