Israel says it has intercepted a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels

JERUSALEM (AP) — Yemen's Houthi rebels launched a missile early Sunday toward Israel, which the Israeli military said it shot down as U.S. strikes in the Houthi-held capital of Sanaa killed two people.

Sirens sounded in parts of Israel around the Dead Sea. The military said "the missile was intercepted prior to crossing into Israeli territory.”

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the attack, saying the rebels targeted Israel's Nevatim air base with what he identified as a hypersonic missile.

American airstrikes, meanwhile, continued targeting the Houthis overnight into Sunday, part of an intense campaign against the rebels that began on March 15.

The Houthi-run Health Ministry said besides the two killed on Sunday, 10 people, including two women and three children, were wounded in Sanaa.

The Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV aid footage showing responders recovering the body of a woman, one of the two killed in the Sanaa strike.

The U.S. is targeting the Houthis because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on Israel. The rebels are the last militant group in Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” that is capable of regularly attacking Israel.

Assessing the toll of the month-old U.S. airstrike campaign has been difficult because the military hasn’t released information about the attacks, including what was targeted and how many people were killed. The Houthis, meanwhile, strictly control access to attacked areas and don’t publish complete information on the strikes, many of which likely have targeted military and security sites.

On April 18, a strike on the Ras Isa fuel port killed at least 74 people and wounded 171 others in the deadliest-known attack of the American campaign.