Ballistic missile fired from Yemen triggers sirens across central Israel
Houthis say Tel Aviv targeted with hypersonic missile; IDF: projectile fell apart in air after being hit by interceptor; shrapnel lands in Ben Shemen forest, nearby train station
A surface-to-surface ballistic missile was fired at central Israel from Yemen by the Iran-backed Houthis early on Sunday morning.
The missile attack set off sirens across central Israel at 6:32 a.m., with alerts heard from the east of Tel Aviv to Modiin.
According to an Israeli Air Force probe, the Houthi missile was hit by an interceptor missile, although it did not manage to completely destroy the target.
The missile had been identified upon launch from northwestern Yemen at around 6:21 a.m., and the Arrow long-range defense system was activated to intercept it. Several interceptor missiles were launched at the target in attempts to down it.
At least one of the Arrow interceptors hit the missile, but did not destroy it, the probe found.
Instead, the interceptor caused the Houthi missile to break apart in the air, and the warhead, as well as other pieces, fell to the ground.
Shrapnel from the missile and the interceptors impacted open areas in the Ben Shemen forest, close to the community of Kfar Daniel — a few kilometers southeast of Ben Gurion Airport — sparking a fire.
The military also attempted to shoot down the falling shrapnel using the Iron Dome, which is usually used for shorter-range attacks.
Shrapnel from an interceptor also caused slight damage at a train station on the outskirts of Modiin, some 25 kilometers (18 miles) east of Tel Aviv.
The IAF found that the missile, which had a trajectory and did not maneuver in flight, was not a hypersonic projectile as the Houthis have claimed. The intended target of the attack was not immediately known.
Police said they were additionally searching for potential shrapnel that may have fallen in areas east of Tel Aviv.
Houthis threaten more attacks
In a short televised speech, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the ballistic missile attack.
Saree said a hypersonic missile was launched at an unspecified military target in the Tel Aviv area, boasting that the projectile eluded the gauntlet of American and Israeli aerial defense systems, and caused “fear and panic” in Israel.
“It forced more than two million Zionists to run to shelters for the first time in the enemy’s history,” he said.
He warned that Israelis could expect more attacks and “quality operations” in the lead-up to the anniversary of the Hamas terror group’s October 7 massacre, including a response to Israel’s July bombing of the Hodeida port in Yemen, a lifeline for the terror group, and in order to perform the Houthis’ “religious and moral duty” to support Palestinians, he said.
As sirens went off, passengers ran to take shelter at Ben Gurion Airport, and lay down on the floor of trains.
A worker at the Modiin train station told the Walla news site that she heard a large blast shortly after she reached the bomb shelter.
“We ran to the protected area and then when we heard the large explosion, we realized it was here,” the unnamed woman said.
The Magen David Adom rescue service said it treated nine people for minor injuries sustained as they ran for shelter when the sirens went off.
The IDF said that there was no change to Home Front Command instructions for civilians, with schools and kindergartens open as usual in central Israel.
Houthi official Nasr al-Din Amer said that the attack showed Israel was completely exposed to aerial assault.
“The [Israeli] defense systems failed and the Yemeni missile arrived thanks to Allah. The depths of the enemy are now completely exposed to us. In the past it was UAVs and now the missiles, and all arrived without interception. The future holds many things,” he said, according to the Kan public broadcaster.
A second senior Houthi official posted on X in Hebrew saying the group’s leader would deliver an address later on Sunday.
“Whether in your underground shelters or outside of them, it would behoove you to listen with close attention this afternoon to what is said by” Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, wrote Hezam al-Asad, a member of the Iran-backed group’s politburo, above a picture of their leader.
Netanyahu says Israel will exact heavy price
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a threat to the Houthis after the attack.
“The Houthis should have known by now that we exact a heavy price for any attempt to harm us,” he said at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting. “Those who need a reminder are welcome to visit the port of Hodeida.”
Israel launched an attack on the main harbor controlled by the Houthis on July 20 after a drone launched by the group struck Tel Aviv, killing a man and injuring four others.
Yemen’s Houthis have fired over 220 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones at Israel over the past 11 months — mostly toward the southernmost city of Eilat — saying that it is in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is battling Hamas.
The vast majority of the Iran-backed Yemeni group’s projectiles have been intercepted by US forces stationed in the Red Sea and Israeli air defenses and fighter jets, or have missed their target.
However, the IDF has long warned that Israel’s air defenses are not “hermetic.”
In July, a drone launched by the Houthis hit Tel Aviv, killing 50-year-old Yevgeny Ferder.
The Iranian-made UAV traveled more than 2,600 kilometers (1,600 miles) to reach Israel, according to an Israeli Air Force probe. The modified Iranian-made Samad-3 took a non-direct flight path, which may have contributed to it not being classified as a threat by air defense troops, which resulted in it not being intercepted and striking the residential building.
Israel responded to the July drone attack with strikes against the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida in western Yemen. The strikes, carried out by dozens of Israeli aircraft, targeted fuel depots and energy infrastructure at the port, in addition to the cranes.
It was the first time Israel responded to the attacks, preferring that a United States-led coalition continue to strike the Houthis, mostly in response to the Iran-backed group’s attacks on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea.
A Houthi official vowed at the time to “meet escalation with escalation” and a statement last month from the rebel group affirmed “once again that the Yemeni response is definitely coming.”
Before the July attack on Tel Aviv, only one Houthi projectile, a cruise missile, had successfully struck Israel, hitting an open area near Eilat in March.
Agencies contributed to this report.
