IDF downs Houthi missile as sirens send millions in central Israel to shelters at 4 a.m.

13 people injured as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem-area residents rush to bomb shelters; Yemeni rebels claim to have been targeting Ben Gurion Airport; flights briefly disrupted by attack

By ToI Staff and Agencies 20 March 2025, 10:58 am Edit
Houthi supporters chant slogans during an anti-US and anti-Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, March 17, 2025. (AP/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Houthi supporters chant slogans during an anti-US and anti-Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, March 17, 2025. (AP/Osamah Abdulrahman)

The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday that it downed a missile fired from Yemen before the projectile entered Israeli airspace overnight, with the Iran-backed Houthi terror group claiming responsibility for its second attack on the country this week.

The attack triggered sirens across a wide swath of central Israel, including the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas, sending millions scrambling to reach bomb shelters at 4 a.m.

A statement from the IDF said “the sirens were activated in accordance with protocol,” apparently due to concerns about falling debris, which have in the past caused damage or even death.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it received no direct reports of injuries from debris, though medics treated 13 people who were hurt while rushing to shelters, and another three who suffered acute anxiety.

In a statement, the Houthis claimed they targeted Ben Gurion Airport with a “hypersonic ballistic missile,” adding that they had also again targeted an American aircraft carrier group in the Red Sea.

The missile attack disrupted air traffic, with several flights to Ben Gurion briefly delayed, including an Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi and an El Al flight from London.

Sirens were heard in the Tel Aviv metropolis, the Shfela region, Modiin and the Jerusalem area, among other places.

Sirens and several explosions were heard from the capital, apparently the sounds of Israel’s interceptors in use.

The sirens went off as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was addressing the plenum, alarming MKs, during a key vote on a bill that serves as a precursor for the state budget.

A live feed from the Knesset channel of the proceedings showed a long list of locations on the right of the screen, highlighted in orange, where sirens were triggered.

However, the Knesset does not alert lawmakers to leave the plenum unless sirens are sounded in the area of the parliament building, which was not the case overnight. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was elsewhere in the Knesset building and hastily made his way to a bomb shelter, according to Hebrew media reports.

Leaving the Knesset later in the night, the prime minister told Channel 14 that “the Houthis are already paying the price, and they will pay more.”

Houthi official Hezam al-Asad mocked the prime minister with a social media post boasting that “Netanyahu ran like a rat to the shelter. Our army is waiting for the enemy, victory for the children of Gaza is drawing close.”

The targeting of Ben Gurion Airport came just as many international carriers were resuming services that they had abandoned due to missile attacks on Israel since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, which erupted on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian terror group Hamas led over 5,000 attackers to invade southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking hundreds as hostages to Gaza.

Part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” against the United States and Israel, the Houthis have been firing on ships in the Red Sea and at Israel since early in the war against Hamas, claiming solidarity with Palestinians.

They also directly targeted Israel with drones and missiles, killing one person and causing significant damage on several occasions. The attacks, usually in the small hours of the morning, also forced millions of Israelis to hurry to bomb shelters.

The Houthis had paused their attacks for the duration of an Israel-Hamas ceasefire that began mid-January, but resumed launching missiles and drones at ships after the United States carried out deadly strikes on Yemen Saturday as well as at Israel after the truce collapsed on Tuesday.

Workers walk through the rubble of a destroyed school building in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, on December 19, 2024, after the campus was hit by a Houthi missile fired from Yemen. (Jack Guez / AFP)

Washington has pledged overwhelming force until the rebels stop firing on key shipping routes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

On Tuesday, the Hamas-allied rebels claimed responsibility for a missile intercepted by Israel and vowed to escalate attacks after IDF military operations resumed in the Gaza Strip.

Israel returned to bombing Gaza, saying Hamas was refusing to discuss continuing the complex ceasefire framework under which batches of hostages were released in return for a halt in the fighting, humanitarian aid to Gaza, and the release of thousands of Palestinian security inmates held in Israeli prisons.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the Houthi rebels “will be completely annihilated,” while warning Iran against continuing to provide aid for the group.

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