Israeli army announces deployment of warships in Red Sea

JERUSLAEM (AA) – The Israeli army announced on Wednesday the deployment of warships in the Red Sea region as part of what it called “strengthening defense efforts in the area.”

In a statement sent to Anadolu, the Israeli army said: “Based on the situation assessment and as part of strengthening defense efforts in the region, naval vessels belonging to the Israeli Navy arrived in the Red Sea on Tuesday.”

On X, the Israeli army posted images of the ships in the Red Sea, whose deployment comes amid continued bombing and a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, following an offensive by Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7. More than 8500 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombing. About 1500 Israelis were killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli army also announced it had intercepted what appeared to be another threat originating from Yemen.

Yedioth Ahronoth daily quoted an Israeli army spokesperson as saying: “Air defense fighters intercepted an aerial threat that was detected in the Red Sea south of Eilat.”

On Tuesday, the army said in a press release: “A surface-to-surface missile fired towards Israel from the Red Sea was intercepted using the long-range Arrow-Hetz 3 missile system.”

Later, Houthis in Yemen announced that “a large number of ballistic and winged missiles and drones were launched at targets in Israel in support of our oppressed brothers in Palestine,” marking the first time the group, which controls most of northern Yemen, announced that it was targeting positions in Israel.