UAE intercepts Yemen rebel missile as Israeli president visits

The United Arab Emirates shot down a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Huthi rebels during a visit by Israel’s president Monday, the latest attack to rattle the Middle East financial hub.

Nobody was hurt in the early-hours attack, the third in consecutive weeks on the wealthy Gulf nation that is part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Iran-backed insurgents.

“Air defence forces… intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Huthi terrorist group at the UAE,” the defence ministry said, according to the official WAM news agency.

It said fragments of debris fell “outside of populated areas”, without giving further details.

The ministry said it responded by destroying the missile launch site in Yemen’s northern Al-Jawf region, releasing black-and-white footage of the explosion.