Israel shoots down Houthi ballistic missile after ceasefire collapses

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Israel says its Gaza strikes have killed Hamas’ head of government

Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst reports on Israel’s claims it eliminated Hamas’ head of government.

The Israeli military said it intercepted a ballistic missile launched by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen on Tuesday, the terror group’s first attack on the Jewish state following the collapse of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that sirens sounded in southern Israel after a missile launched from Yemen. The Israeli Air Force said it intercepted the missile before it crossed into Israeli territory.

President Donald Trump’s ordering of U.S. strikes against the Houthis in Yemen over the weekend is believed to have deterred the terror group from resuming an attack on Israel sooner and with greater volume, IDF sources told the Jerusalem Post. 

Nearly a quarter-million people were sent to bomb shelters across the central and southern desert Negev region as a precaution due to shrapnel from the interception Tuesday, Fox News has learned. 

CEASEFIRE OVER AS ISRAEL STRIKES GAZA AFTER HAMAS REFUSES TO RELEASE HOSTAGES, OFFICIALS SAY

Houthi supporters chant slogans during an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rally in Sana’a, Yemen, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

The Houthi attack came hours after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas crumbled over what U.S. officials said was the terror organization’s refusal to release more Israeli hostages.

There are still 59 hostages in Gaza, but Israel believes only 24 of those who remain are alive.

Smoke rises after an Israeli bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip on March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israel bombarded the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, eliminating the head of the Hamas government and other key terrorist leaders. 

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At least 404 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed in the Israeli airstrikes so far, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. The death toll has not been independently verified.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with security officials at the Kirya, Israel’s version of the Pentagon, on Tuesday during the airstrikes. 

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“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu’s office wrote in a series of posts on X as the airstrikes commenced.

Fox News’ Yonat Friling, Rachel Wolf, Louis Casiano, Landon Mion and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.