The Israel military says a surface-to-surface missile fired from Yemen has landed in central Israel.

Air raid sirens reportedly sounded in Tel Aviv and across central Israel moments before the missile landed at about 6:35am local time on Sunday, sending residents running for shelter.

After initially saying the missile had fallen in an open area, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) later said it had probably fragmented in the air, and that pieces of interceptors had landed in fields and near a railway station.

It said loud booms "heard in the last few minutes" came from missile interceptors that had been launched.

"Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in central Israel, a surface-to-surface missile was identified crossing into central Israel from the east and fell in an open area" it said.

"Several interception attempts were made by the Arrow and Iron Dome Aerial Defense Systems, and their results are under review," it said.

Israeli police said they were at the scene near Shfela, east of Tel Aviv, where a fragment of an air-defence interceptor had come down.

Although the IDF said no injuries had been reported, a paramedic service said several people were slightly injured while "on their way to shelters".

Yemen's Houthis claimed responsibility for the missile attack — their first to reach central Israel.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group struck with a new hypersonic ballistic missile that travelled 2,040 kilometres in under 12 minutes.

Mr Sarea said the group had targeted an Israeli "military position" in the Jaffa area around Tel Aviv and claimed the missile "succeeded in reaching its target".

Israel should expect more strikes in the future "as we approach the first anniversary of the [October] 7 operation, including responding to its aggression on the city of Hodeidah," Mr Sarea said.

On Telegram, the group called the attack a "qualitative operation that targeted the depth of the Zionist entity".

"It forced more than two million Zionists to run to shelters for the first time in the enemy's history," a statement read.

The deputy head of the rebels' media office, Nasruddin Amer, said in a post on X that the Yemeni missile reached Israel after "20 missiles failed to intercept" it.

He described the move as the "beginning".

In a statement, Hamas praised the missile launch as a "natural response to the Zionist entity's aggression against our Palestinian people".

"We affirm that the Zionist enemy will not enjoy security unless it ceases its brutal aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip," it said.

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said the Houthi missile sent a "message to the entire region that Israel is not an immune entity".

"Even Israeli capabilities have limits, and the possibility of developing resistance action against the Zionist entity is a serious and real possibility, not a fantasy," he said.

Houthis in Yemen fired a long-range drone at Tel Aviv in July, killing one man and wounding four others.

Israel responded with a major air strike near Yemen's Hodeidah port, killing at least three people and wounding 87.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the Houthis should understand Israel would respond to an attack on Israeli soil.

"The Houthis launched a surface-to-surface missile from Yemen into our territory. They should have known by now that we charge a heavy price for any attempt to harm us," Mr Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting, according to a statement from his office.

"Whoever needs a reminder of that is invited to visit the Hodeida port," he added.

The Houthis have been trading attacks with Israel in what it says is solidarity with Palestinians during the current war in Gaza.

The IDF also said 40 projectiles were fired from Lebanon towards Israel on Sunday but they were either intercepted or landed in open areas, and there were no reported injuries.

Reuters/AFP