DUBAI, October 3. /TASS/. Houthi rebels from the Yemen-based Ansar Allah movement have carried out drone strikes on Tel Aviv, the movement’s military spokesman Yahya Saria said.

"Yemen’s air forces have carried out an operation, using Jaffa drones to attack a crucial facility in Tel Aviv in the occupied Palestine," he told the Houthi-owned Al Masirah TV channel.

According to him, Israeli air defenses failed to down the drones, which "hit their targets." Earlier, the Israeli army said that "a suspicious target" had been intercepted in a coastal area in the central part of the country.

Following the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Ansar Allah movement said it would strike Israeli territory and prevent ships associated with Israel from passing through the waters of the Red Sea and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait until the operation in the Palestinian enclave was halted. The Houthis have attacked dozens of civilian ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since last November.

In response to the Houthis’ actions, the US authorities announced the establishment of an international coalition and the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian to ensure freedom of navigation and protection of ships in the Red Sea. Afterwards, the US and the UK started to carry out regular strikes on Houthi military facilities in Yemen.