Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired a missile into central Israel early Sunday — prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn that Israel would “exact a heavy price” over the attack.
The latest rocket attack from the Iran-backed terror group sparked fears in the area with local media reporting that the strike caused people at Ben Gurion International Airport to race to shelters for protection.
Air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and surrounding areas just before impact at 6:35 a.m. local time.
Like other rocket attacks from the Houthis and Hezbollah, Sunday’s strike caused a large fire to break out in the rural area after it was intercepted by the IDF’s surface-to-surface missile system.
The IDF said the Houthi missile was fragmented by the defense system, with Israeli outlets reporting that the missile ultimately crashed against an escalator at a train station in Modiin.
The hypersonic ballistic missile traveled 1,270 miles in just 11 1/2 minutes, according to Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea.
Netanyahu slammed the latest attack from the Yemen rebel group that has plagued the Red Sea since November in solidarity with Hamas.
“The Houthis should have known by now that we exact a heavy price for any attempt to harm us,” Netanyahu said at a Cabinet meeting.
“Anyone who needs a reminder is invited to visit the port of Hodeidah,” he added, referencing the Yemen port that was decimated by an Israeli retaliatory attack earlier this year, killing six and wounding 80. That air strike was in response to a Houthi drone that hit Tel Aviv in July, killing one and wounding four.
No direct casualties were reported. Nine people suffered minor injuries while seeking cover.
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, claimed Sunday’s attack was meant to strike a “military target” near Tel Aviv with a ballistic missile.
Along with the Houthi attack, the IDF said it intercepted some 40 missiles fired from Lebanon on Sunday.
With Post wires
