Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, a terrorist group that has held Yemen's capital of Sanaa since 2014, declared war on Israel on Tuesday after taking credit for launching a barrage of ballistic and cruise missiles at the Jewish state.

Iranian state-run media outlet Mehr News Agency ran a headline Tuesday that said, "Yemeni Ansarullah declares war against Zionist regime."

"We launched a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles and a large number of drones at various targets of the Zionist enemy in the Palestine Occupied Territories," Gen. Yahya Saree, spokesman of the Houthi armed forces, said in a televised statement. "We emphasize that this operation is the third operation in support of our oppressed brothers in Palestine."

Saree said the Houthi's armed forces have conducted three operations over the past three weeks.

Earlier Tuesday, he posted on X that "our armed forces launched a large batch of ballistic and winged missiles and a large number of drones at various targets of the Israeli enemy in the occupied territories."

The Houthis had been suspected of an attack earlier this month targeting Israel by sending missiles and drones over the crucial shipping lane of the Red Sea, an assault that saw a U.S. Navy shoot down the projectiles.

On Tuesday, Israel said its own fighter jets shot down two salvos of incoming fire hours apart as it approached the country's key Red Sea shipping port of Eilat.

"The Gaza invasion is carried out with the support of the United States and the involvement of some regimes," Saree said. "Our forces performed their duty in supporting Gaza and fired ballistic and cruise missiles at enemy targets in the occupied territories."

Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon's press secretary, acknowledged the Houthis targeted Israel, suggesting the group had missiles able to reach about 1,240 miles.

"This is something we will continue to monitor," Ryder said. "We want to prevent a broader regional conflict."

Further, Bloomberg reported Monday that Saudi Arabia saw four soldiers killed in skirmishes against Houthi rebels in recent days.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

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