IDF says it downed Yemen missile that triggered sirens in central Israel, Jerusalem

Eighth such Houthi attack in some two weeks sends millions to bomb shelters around 4:30 a.m.; fragment hits Modiin; drone fired from Yemen intercepted later Friday morning

People gather in a shelter after airstrike sirens sound near Tel Aviv, on January 3, 2025. (AP/Matias Delacroix)
People gather in a shelter after airstrike sirens sound near Tel Aviv, on January 3, 2025. (AP/Matias Delacroix)

Sirens were activated across central Israel and in Jerusalem around 4:30 a.m. Friday after a ballistic missile was launched at the country from Yemen, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The military said it successfully shot down the projectile, but a fragment following the interception impacted near the central city of Modiin.

Footage posted to social media showed a projectile falling from the sky before an explosion was seen near the city.

The military was investigating the incident. In the past, partially intercepted missiles launched at Israel have at times crashed with their warhead intact, and caused extensive damage.

Another fragment reportedly fell in the settlement of Har Gilo, near Jerusalem.

Slight damage was caused by the falling debris.

No physical injuries were reported as a direct result of the attack. However, medics treated more than nine people who suffered from acute anxiety and 12 who were hurt while seeking shelter, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said.

Later on Friday morning, a drone launched at Israel from Yemen was successfully intercepted by the Israeli Air Force, the military said. According to the IDF, the drone was shot down outside Israel’s borders, and therefore no sirens sounded.

The Houthis in Yemen later took responsibility for the attacks, claiming to have hit a power station east of Tel Aviv with the overnight ballistic missile and a “military target” in the Tel Aviv area with the morning drone.

The attacks came amid a wave of similar launches in recent weeks by the Houthis, a rebel group that is dedicated to the destruction of Israel and Jews.

The Houthis have launched more than 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel in the past year, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The vast majority did not reach Israel or were intercepted by the military or Israel’s allies in the region.

The Houthis have vowed to keep up the attacks until the end of the war in the Gaza Strip that began on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian terror group Hamas led a devastating attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage to Gaza.

Recently the Houthis have repeatedly fired missiles at central Israel in the middle of the night. The latest was the eighth such launch over the past two weeks.

Since December, the group has fired 12 ballistic missiles and at least 10 drones at Israel.

Supporters of Yemen’s Houthi rebels carry a mock rocket and chant slogans during an anti-Israel rally in the capital Sanaa, December 27, 2024. (AP/Osamah Abdulrahman)

Alongside the attacks on Israel, the Iran-backed group has carried out repeated missile and drone attacks on some 100 merchant vessels attempting to traverse the Red Sea, forcing many carriers to avoid the key waterway and hamstringing global shipping. The Houthis initially said they would attack Israel-linked ships but few of the vessels targeted had ties to Israel.

The US military struck Houthi targets in Yemen’s capital on Monday in response to attacks on American warships and commercial vessels. Israeli fighter jets also struck targets there late last month, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Houthis that Israel was “just getting started.”

Additionally, UN Ambassador Danny Danon on Monday issued what he called a final warning to the group to halt their missile attacks on Israel, saying they risked the same “miserable fate” as fellow Iranian allies Hamas, Hezbollah, and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad if they persisted.

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