IDF downs Houthi ballistic missile; debris from interception lands in Beit Shemesh
No injuries or damage caused by missile attack, which set off sirens across central Israel; Iran-backed Yemeni group has now targeted Israel six times in the past week
Sirens sounded across central Israel on Monday afternoon as the Iran-backed Houthis launched a ballistic missile from Yemen, which the IDF said it shot down before it crossed into Israeli territory.
Several pieces of shrapnel from the missile continued to fall after the missile was intercepted, reaching Israel and landing in the city of Beit Shemesh outside Jerusalem.
No injuries or major damage were reported as a result of the projectiles’ impact, according to rescue authorities.
Sirens went off in Tel Aviv, Rishon Lezion, Rehovot and the outskirts of Jerusalem at around 8 p.m.
The Houthis later issued a statement claiming responsibility for the missile launch, which like other recent attacks it claimed targeted Ben Gurion Airport.
The missile launch marks the sixth Houthi attack on Israel in the past week, following the IDF’s renewed offensive against Hamas in Gaza last Tuesday.
The missiles have all been intercepted by Israeli air defenses or fallen short of reaching Israel, but have nevertheless sent much of the country scrambling to shelters.
A ballistic missile launched at Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen was successfully intercepted by air defenses, the military says.
The IDF says the missile was shot down before crossing the country's borders. Footage appears to show shrapnel falling down following the… https://t.co/5233s1NspG pic.twitter.com/8egpoSBPks
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 24, 2025
On March 15, the US announced a wave of airstrikes that officials said killed senior Houthi leaders, and which the rebels’ health authorities said killed 53 people.
The American strikes, ongoing for over a week, were the first since US President Donald Trump returned office and came after the rebels threatened to renew attacks on Israeli shipping.
US airstrikes that continued into Monday pounded sites across Yemen, with the Houthi group saying an attack on Sanaa killed at least one person and wounded more than a dozen others.
The rebel-controlled SABA news agency reported, citing health officials, that the US-attributed strike on a residential neighborhood in western Sanaa killed one and injured 13, including three children.
According to the Saudi Al Hadath network, a senior Houthi official was killed in the strike on the capital. However, the report did not identify the official by name or by position.
The latest US strikes came after antisemitic influencer Jackson Hinkle visited Yemen over the weekend and met with senior Houthi leaders at a conference in Sanaa entitled “Palestine: The Central Issue of the Nation – You Are Not Alone.”
Hinkle, a US citizen known to spread disinformation and conspiracy theories about Israel and Ukraine on social media, met with members of the US-listed terrorist organization at the conference in apparent violation of American law, though he currently resides in Russia.
❤️???????? It was a GREAT HONOR to meet ANSAR ALLAH’S YAHYA SAREE in Yemen. pic.twitter.com/nZISJuDCAH
— Jackson Hinkle ???????? (@jacksonhinklle) March 23, 2025
Hinkle also attended the funeral of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon last month.
The conference on Saturday included Hamas representatives in Yemen, former South African parliamentarian and grandson of Nelson Mandela, Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela, former Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, Brazilian analyst Deb Escobar, former Member of European Parliament Mick Wallace, and others.
The conference discussed the strategic dimensions of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the dangers of normalization, and the role of resistance in confronting the Zionist entity, according to its press announcement.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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