A ballistic missile launched at Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen was successfully intercepted by air defenses, the military said Thursday night, in what has recently become an almost daily occurrence.
The missile set off sirens shortly after 9:20 p.m. across central Israel, several West Bank settlements, and towns near Jerusalem, sending millions to bomb shelters.
The attack also briefly halted the final of the Israel State Cup, held at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, where tens of thousands of soccer fans gathered to watch Hapoel Beersheba play Beitar Jerusalem.
Preceding the sirens by about three minutes, an early warning was issued by the Home Front Command to residents, alerting them of the long-range missile attack via a push notification on their phones.
The Israel Defense Forces later announced it was investigating after an Aviv Geffen concert at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park was not halted amid the attack, despite sirens sounding in the area. The military said it received reports that attendees did not hear the sirens.
“The performance was not stopped by security forces at the time of the alert, and the incident is being investigated,” the IDF said.
There were no reports of injuries or damage in the attack, which marked the sixth time in the past week that the Houthis have fired on Israel.
The Houthis took responsibility for the missile fire, claiming to have targeted Ben Gurion Airport. Earlier this month, a Houthi missile slipped through air defenses and hit the grounds of the airport, injuring six people, none of them seriously.
Thursday’s missile fire was the first attack since Israel, on Wednesday, carried out an airstrike in Yemen, targeting the Houthi-held Sanaa International Airport and destroying a plane that was in use by the Iran-backed terror group.
A separate strike earlier this month destroyed the airport’s terminal and six planes, and left craters on its runway, according to Yemeni authorities. The airfield reopened for a flight 11 days later.
Also this month, the Israeli Air Force struck the Houthi-controlled Hodeida and Salif ports in Yemen in response to the Iran-backed group’s repeated attacks on Israel.
The Houthis vowed to respond and have since continued their missile attacks.
The Houthis — whose slogan calls for “Death to America, Death to Israel, [and] a Curse on the Jews” — began attacking Israel and general maritime traffic in November 2023, a month after the October 7 Hamas massacre.
They held their fire when a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Hamas in January 2025.
By that point, they had fired over 40 ballistic missiles and dozens of attack drones and cruise missiles at Israel, including one that killed a civilian and wounded several others in Tel Aviv in July, prompting Israel’s first strike in Yemen.
Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen have launched 42 ballistic missiles and at least 10 drones at Israel. Several of the missiles have fallen short.