SANAA/JERUSALEM, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi armed group launched a hypersonic ballistic missile toward Israel this morning, targeting what it described as "sensitive sites" in the Jaffa area in southern Tel Aviv.

In a statement broadcast on the group's al-Masirah TV on Saturday, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said that the missile had multiple warheads and caused residents to flee to bomb shelters. He also claimed that the strike had "achieved its objectives."

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it successfully intercepted a missile launched from Yemen into Israeli territory early Saturday morning.

Israel's national emergency service, Magen David Adom, said in a statement that there were no reports of hits or casualties.

The IDF issued an alert shortly after the launch, and a few minutes later, air defense sirens were heard in wide areas of central Israel, including the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, waking millions of residents and prompting them to rush to shelters.

Sarea said the group would continue carrying out strikes in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza and pledged resilience against what he called Israeli "aggression" toward Yemen, referring to Wednesday's airstrikes.

The Houthi-run health ministry said on Thursday that Israeli airstrikes hit two newspapers and a nearby resident's house in Sanaa, as well as other civilian facilities in the northern province of al-Jawf. The strikes killed at least 46 people and injured 165 others, mostly civilians. ■