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The mother and son, along with 17 other injured Palestinians, plus their relatives, were set to cross the border to the Israeli city of Eilat on Wednesday, where they would then be flown to various cities in Italy on chartered flights by the Italian Air Force, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement.

It was first used in combat in 2023, to intercept a ballistic missile which the Houthi rebels in Yemen fired at the coastal city of Eilat, in southern Israel.

To date, only one other Houthi-fired missile has been reported to have penetrated Israeli territory, striking near the Red Sea port of Eilat in March.

For Israel, the campaign has led to the near bankruptcy of the port of Eilat.

The Houthis have also fired large numbers of ballistic missiles at the Israeli Red Sea port of Eilat, idling it since November.