Israel says its latest missile destroyer has hit first target

Indicating a possible attack by Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Israeli military said on Thursday (November 9) that the country's latest hypersonic ballistic missile interceptor Arrow-3 destroyed a 'target' for the first time. The army said that the 'target' was headed towards Israel from the Red Sea.

The landmark announcement about the Arrow 3 interceptor came sometime after Iran-backed Houthi rebels said that "a barrage of ballistic missiles" had been fired at Israel.

Israeli Defence Ministry and Israel Defence Forces said in a statement that Israel "successfully launched an Arrow 3 interceptor operationally for the first time this evening." 

"The interceptor effectively intercepted a target launched towards Israel in the Red Sea region."

The statement mentioned that it was the "first operational interception" by the Arrow 3 interceptor. Israel has developed Arrow 3 jointly with the United States. 

"This achievement follows the recent success of the first operational interception carried out by the Arrow 2 system last week," the statement added.

The development of Arrow 3 and previous generation missiles in the Arrow family was undertaken because of a perceived threat from Iran.

Hypersonic Arrow 3 moves faster and at a higher altitude than the older Arrow 2.

On October 31, Israel said that the Arrow system intercepted a missile that was headed towards Israel. It was a 'surface-to-surface' missile.

At that time, the Houthi rebels had said that ballistic missiles and drones were fired towards Israel. The rebels have said that they would "continue to carry out qualitative strikes with missiles and drones" with an aim to make Israel stop its bombing in Gaza.

Hamas fighters crossed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7 and launched an attack that killed 1,400 people, as per Israeli estimates. The fighters took more than 200 hostages. Israel has responded with overwhelming military action that has seen it mount air raids and deploy troops and tanks for ground assault. According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, the death toll has crossed 11,000. There are no signs that the war will cease.