A ballistic missile launched from Yemen by Houthi terrorists struck near Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday.
Israel’s military failed to intercept the missile, which hit close to the airport’s main terminal. Four people were reportedly injured by the blast, and two were injured while running to shelter; none of the injuries were serious.
“Following the sirens that sounded in a number of areas in Israel, several attempts were made to intercept the missile launched from Yemen,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. “A fall was identified in the area of Ben Gurion Airport. The incident is under review.”
Some airlines canceled flights and others delayed flights for an hour or longer. The strike on Israel’s busiest airport was the result of the fourth missile the Houthis have launched at Israel in the past 48 hours. The other three were intercepted.
Houthi forces, in solidarity with Hamas, began to target Israel shortly after October 7, 2023. The Iranian proxy has attacked ships in the Red Sea. Most recently, a U.S. Navy ship lost a F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet in the sea while making a hard turn trying to avoid a Houthi attack.
The U.S. military has ramped up strikes on Yemeni targets in recent weeks in an attempt to disrupt the Houthis’ missile strikes.
In a statement, Hamas leaders celebrated the Houthis’ Sunday attack and called Yemen “the twin of Palestine, as it continues to defy the most brutal forces of oppression, refusing submission or defeat despite the aggression it faces.”
Israel’s National Unity party chairman and former defense minister Benny Gantz called on Israel to hold Iran accountable for Sunday’s strike and enact a “severe response against Tehran.”
“This is not Yemen, this is Iran. It is Iran that is firing ballistic missiles at the State of Israel, and it must bear responsibility,” Gantz said on social media. “The Israeli government must wake up.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised that “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
“We acted before, we will act in the future too. I can’t elaborate all of that. The US, in coordination with us, is also operating against them. It’s not ‘one and done’ — but there will be hits,” Netanyahu said on social media.