A Houthi drone breached Israel’s air defenses on Sunday and slammed into an airport, blowing out a window and wounding two people, the Israeli military said.
The drone hit the Ramon Airport in southern Israel, sending shrapnel flying at a 63-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman and leaving them with minor injuries.
Footage of the aftermath showed black smoke billowing from the airport near the resort city of Eilat, causing major delays and diverting flights from the air hub.
“Takeoffs and landings at Ramon have been halted. The airport authority is working to restore operations as soon as possible,” the Israeli Airport Authority said in an initial statement.
The airport later resumed full operations of arrivals and departures “following the completion of all safety and security checks, compliance with international civil aviation standards, and receipt of final approval from the Air Force,” the agency said.
The attack stands as a major escalation in the Houthi-Israeli conflict after the Jewish state killed Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi last month, with the Iran-backed terror group vowing to escalate its attacks.
Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the Yemen-based rebel group fired eight drones at Israel, with the bomb-laden drones specifically targeting the Jewish state’s airports.
Saree said that as long as the war in Gaza continues, Israel’s airports “are unsafe and will be continuously targeted.
The Israeli military said it intercepted three of the drones, with an investigation underway as to why it failed to detect the UAV that struck the Ramon Airport.
The strike comes three months after a Houthi missile struck near Israel’s main air hub, the Ben Gurion International Airport, prompting international airlines to cancel flights to Tel Aviv for months.
The Houthis began attacking Israel in November 2023 as a show of solidarity with Hamas after the IDF began its ground operations in Gaza following the terror group’s deadly onslaught on Oct. 7, 2023.
The Houthis have ramped up their attacks on Israel in recent weeks, with the rebel group firing its first cluster bomb in two years this month, targeting the Ben Gurion Airport, forcing millions into shelters.
Since Israel resumed all-out war in Gaza back in March, the Houthis have fired at least 31 drones and 80 ballistic missiles, the IDF said.
With Post wires