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Iran on Tuesday denounced what it termed Israel's "brazen admission" of having killed former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this year, accusing the country of having carried out a "heinous crime" and defending its missile-strike response.

"This brazen admission marks the first time the Israeli regime has openly confessed to its responsibility for this heinous crime," said Iran's ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani in a letter addressed to the UN secretary-general.

On Monday, Israel's defense minister Israel Katz acknowledged his country was responsible for the killing, the first time an official admission had been made.

Haniyeh, who was seen as leading Hamas's negotiation efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, was killed in a guesthouse in Tehran on July 31, reportedly by an explosive device that had been placed by Israeli operatives weeks before.

Until Monday, Israel had never admitted to killing Haniyeh, but Iran and Hamas had attributed the Hamas political leader's death to the nation.

On Tuesday, Iranian UN Ambassador Iravani termed Israel's killing of Haniyeh a "heinous terrorist act," adding that Katz's statement showed Iran was justified in striking Israel in retaliation.

"It also reaffirms the legitimacy and legality of Iran's defensive response on 1 October 2024, as well as Iran's consistent position that the occupying and terrorist regime of Israel remains the most serious threat to regional and international peace and security."

Yemen's Houthi rebels said Wednesday that they had fired a ballistic missile at central Israel, with Israeli forces saying they intercepted the attack.

The missile was aimed at the Tel Aviv area, the Iran-backed Houthis said. The Israelis reported it was shot down before it entered Israeli territory.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces targeted a military target of the Israeli enemy in the occupied area of Yaffa (Tel Aviv) using a hypersonic ballistic missile, type Palestine 2," a Huthi military statement said.

"The operation has successfully achieved its objectives," it added.

In the latest attack, air raid sirens sounded over a wide swathe of central Israel as a precaution against falling debris.

But the army said it had shot down the projectile before it entered Israel. No injuries were reported, according to Israel's emergency medical services.

"A missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory," the Israeli army wrote on Telegram.

Christians across the world celebrated Christmas Wednesday, with the mood darkened by wars and a massive Christmas morning attack on Ukraine by Russia and a plane crash in Kazakhstan.

With the war in Gaza also showing no signs of ending, Pope Francis was also expected to call for peace in the Middle East during his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) speech at midday in Rome.

Francis used his Christmas Eve mass at the Vatican to urge Christians to think of "the wars, of the machine-gunned children, of the bombs on schools or hospitals" after another year of raging conflicts.

Since the war in Gaza began, Bethlehem has done away with its giant Christmas tree and the elaborate decorations that normally draw throngs of tourists, settling for just a few festive lights.

Israeli airstrikes killed 13 Palestinians during predawn attacks on Gaza, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

In southern Khan Younis, at least 10 people lost their lives, and several others were injured when a house was bombed in the Maen area.

Separately, a man and his wife were killed in a strike on a residential building near the Ain Jalut Towers in the central Nuseirat refugee camp.

Another casualty was reported in Deir el-Balah, where a young man was killed during a raid on his home.