SANAA, Yemen (AFP) —Yemeni Houthi rebels claimed on Friday they had launched a barrage of missiles toward Israel, after the Israeli army said it had intercepted a missile over the Red Sea.

Houthi forces “carried out a military operation against specific targets of the Israeli enemy in the Umm al-Rashrash area, south of occupied Palestine, with a number of ballistic missiles,” the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree said on X.

The Israeli military had said earlier it had “successfully intercepted a surface-to-surface missile that approached Israeli territory in the area of the Red Sea.”

The attack was the latest in a series of drone and missile strikes launched by the Houthis since the start of the Gaza war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas nearly four months ago.

The Houthis have also repeatedly targeted vessels in the Red Sea with strikes they say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is battling militant group Hamas.

The attacks have prompted some shipping companies to detour around southern Africa to avoid the Red Sea, a vital route that normally carries about 12 percent of global maritime trade.

French maritime transporter CMA CGM has again suspended the transit by its vessels of the Red Sea, where Iran-backed Yemeni rebels have targeted numerous ships, a source told Agence France-Presse on Friday.

The decision, taken on Friday, halts the use of the key transit route until further notice in order to “not take any risks” with its crews and vessels, said the source.