Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar today congratulated Yemen’s Houthi rebel group on its missile attack on Israel and said it sent a message to their enemy, the Houthi Al-Masira TV network reported today.

The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control northern Yemen, hit central Israel with a rocket on Sunday for the first time, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say Israel would exact a “heavy price” on them.

“I congratulate you on your success in getting to the bottom of the enemy entity,” Sinwar said in a letter to Houthi leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi.

Sinwar leads Hamas in the war against Israel in the Gaza Strip, which entered its 12th month.

The Hamas leader said Israel’s plans to neutralize the militant group had failed.

“I assure you that the resistance in Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq and Yemen will defeat Israel is fine. We are prepared to fight a long war of attrition,” he said.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group struck with a new hypersonic ballistic missile that traveled 2,040 km in just 11.5 minutes.

An Israeli military official said the missile was hit by an interceptor system and fragmented in mid-air. Fragments of the missile fell in fields and near a railway station. No direct casualties were reported but nine people were slightly injured while seeking shelter.