Houthi missile explodes over central Israel
The Iranian terror proxy has launched dozens of drones and missiles at Israel in support of Hamas in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.
Houthi leader Abd al-Malek Badr al-Din al-Houthi
Israeli air defenses on Sunday morning intercepted fragments of a surface-to-surface missile launched from Yemen that exploded over central Israel.
The attack triggered sirens in central Israel and the Tel Aviv area at around 6:30 a.m.
According to the Magen David Adom emergency service, five individuals suffered light injuries while running for shelters. They were treated on the scene before being referred to hospitals, according to MDA.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the attack was launched from Yemen, after correcting an initial report that a missile had been launched from the east.
“The explosive sounds heard in the last few minutes are from the interceptors. The result of the interception is under review,” according to the IDF.
In July, a Houthi drone killed a man in central Tel Aviv, in response to which Israel struck Yemen’s Hodeidah port. The Iranian terror proxy has launched dozens of drones and missiles at Israel in support of Hamas in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.
Hazam al-Assad, a member of the Houthi militia’s political bureau, tweeted on Sunday morning, hours after the attack, that “whether you are in underground shelters or out of them, you must listen carefully this afternoon to what this great leader, who speaks the truth and acts with integrity, will say,” along with a picture of Houthi leader Abd al-Malek Badr al-Din al-Houthi.
He claimed that the missile was “very powerful and hypersonic,” and had ” bypassed all defenses and hit a military area in Lod near Ben Gurion Airport.”
Fragments of an IDF interceptor hit a train station in Modi’in, causing damage, with images from the scene showing shattered glass and damage to an escalator. No injuries were reported.
Other interceptor fragments reportedly fell in an agricultural field near Lod, a city just under 10 miles southeast of Tel Aviv. Four firefighting teams were working to control a blaze that broke out near Moshav Kfar Daniel as a result, which posed no immediate danger to nearby homes.
The Israeli security establishment’s initial assessment is that the missile disintegrated in the air, according to Channel 12 News. Based on the initial investigation, it appears that Israel’s Arrow defense system intercepted one of the fragments while the Iron Dome system shot down others.
The interceptor fragments fell in open areas, except for the shrapnel that hit the train station. The fragments of the Houthi missile itself landed in an open area in the Ben Shemen area.
Ben Gurion Airport was operating on a regular schedule Sunday, with 62,000 passengers expected to pass through Israel on 375 flights.
On Friday, the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza said it had fired two rockets toward Tel Aviv. The IDF said that one of the projectiles fell in the sea, and the other did not cross into Israeli territory. Residents of the Gush Dan region of central Israel reported a loud explosion.
Hamas said it had launched “two M90 rockets” toward Tel Aviv, with a source from the terror group telling the Hezbollah-aligned Lebanese news site Al Mayadeen that the rockets were launched from Khan Yunis, where the IDF is currently operating.
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