Home Front Command deploys new alert system to give earlier warnings for Houthi missiles
Civilians will receive notification 3-5 minutes before sirens are activated; update comes as Iran-backed group in Yemen continues attacks on Israel
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces’ Home Front Command announced on Thursday that it was rolling out a new alert system to its mobile app, giving civilians a significantly earlier warning of long-range ballistic missile fire on the country.
When a missile is fired from Yemen, Iran, or other distant locations at Israel, the military can identify the projectile well before sirens are activated.
Currently, sirens are activated based on the shortest-range threat, regardless of where the missile was launched from. For example, in Tel Aviv, civilians are given 90 seconds to seek shelter — based on rocket fire from Gaza or Lebanon — even if a missile is fired from Yemen, which takes some 10 minutes to reach the country.
Starting on Thursday, in the event of missile fire from Yemen, the Home Front Command said it would send out an early warning on its app to those in areas under potential threat. This push notification would give people 3-5 minutes to prepare to seek shelter before sirens sound.
The IDF said the early alert does not require people to seek shelter immediately, and it was intended to give them more time to prepare and feel safer.
The early alert would be distributed to a wide area under potential threat, but the sirens may only sound in certain specific areas. The military said there may be cases where people receive an early alert, but no sirens sound in their area.
The new update to the Home Front Command app comes after several weeks of trials, staff work, and feedback from the public, it said.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit added that it would also issue a public statement when the military identifies missile fire from Yemen.
Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen have launched more than 20 ballistic missiles and several drones at Israel.
Only half of the missiles set off sirens in wide areas of Israel and were intercepted, while the others fell short.
The Houthis began their attacks in support of the Palestinian terror group Hamas, which on October 7, 2023, invaded southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages to Gaza, triggering the ongoing war there.
The Iran-backed rebels fired some 40 ballistic missiles from November 2023 until just days before Israel reached the ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas. The Houthis also launched several attack drones at Israel, including one that killed a civilian and wounded several others in Tel Aviv in July. Responding to the attacks, Israel has carried out several strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen.
The IDF Home Front Command app, which was launched in 2016, tracks users based on their GPS location and alerts them to threats in their immediate area by sounding an alert and showing a message.
The app can distinguish between individual neighborhoods within cities to only alert those in areas the IDF believes should seek shelter from missiles or shrapnel.
The Home Front Command sends out alerts for rockets, missiles or drone attacks, as well as terrorist infiltrations, earthquakes, tsunamis and hazardous material leaks.
Last year, the Home Front Command rolled out a new alert system based on Cell Broadcast, which is a method of sending short messages to multiple phone users in a defined area. Many other countries have similar systems in place.
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