The United Arab Emirates said on Monday it had intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi movement as the UAE hosted Israel’s President Isaac Herzog in a first such visit.
Washington condemned the assault, the third on US-allied UAE within the last two weeks, including a deadly strike on the capital Abu Dhabi on Jan 17, in an escalation of the Yemen war between the Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition. The Emirati defence ministry said the latest missile attack was intercepted 20 minutes past midnight and that its debris fell on an uninhabited area. It did not say whether it was aimed at Abu Dhabi or Dubai, the region’s business and tourism hub.
It came while Israel’s president was visiting Abu Dhabi where he discussed security and bilateral relations with the UAE’s de facto ruler Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Herzog spent the night in Abu Dhabi, an Israeli official told Reuters. He will continue his UAE visit despite the Houthi attack, his office said. visited the Expo 2020 Dubai world fair on Monday.
“While Israel’s president is visiting the UAE to build bridges and promote stability across the region, the Houthis continue to launch attacks that threaten civilians,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a tweet.
The UAE, along with Bahrain, signed US-brokered normalisation agreements with Israel, dubbed the “Abraham Accords”, in 2020.
The UAE civil aviation authority said air traffic in the Gulf country, a major international travel hub, was normal and all flights operating as usual. AGENCIES
