Yemen's Houthis claim missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport, Israel vows strong response

Yemen's Houthi group on Sunday claimed responsibility for a missile attack near Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel in the morning.

"We targeted Ben Gurion Airport, using a hypersonic ballistic missile that successfully hit its target," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement aired live on Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

"American and Israeli defense systems failed to intercept the missile," he said.

Sarea warned international airlines against sending flights to the Israeli airport, declaring it "no longer safe for air navigation."

In the statement, Sarea noted the group also launched a drone attack Saturday night aimed at a "vital target" in the city of Ashkelon, southern Israel.

He stressed that the Houthi group would launch more attacks against Israel until "the war against the Gaza Strip stops, and the humanitarian aid is allowed back into the Palestinian enclave."

On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces said on the social media platform X that sirens sounded across central Israel after a projectile was fired from Yemen. The attack prompted millions of residents to flee to shelters and safe rooms in the morning hours.

Israel's Magen David Adom emergency service reported that a man sustained moderate-to-light injuries in his limbs during the incident, while two women and another man suffered light injuries.

According to a video released by the Israeli police, the explosion caused by the Houthi missile left a crater measuring several meters in depth and width in the vicinity of Ben Gurion Airport. Israel's Airports Authority said takeoffs and landings were suspended for about an hour before operations resumed.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened to retaliate strongly shortly after the attack, warning in a statement, "Whoever strikes us will be struck sevenfold," without elaborating.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to convene a security assessment meeting to discuss the attack, his office said.

Senior security officials told Israel's state-owned Kan TV News that following the Houthi strike near Tel Aviv, Israel intends to respond with force, adding that Israel had refrained from attacking the Houthis at the request of its ally, the United States, which has been leading intense airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen since mid-March. "After the strike on Ben Gurion Airport, we no longer consider ourselves under any limitations," an unnamed Israeli official said.

Yemen has conducted a series of missile and drone launches toward Israel over the weekend, most of them intercepted. However, Israeli and American missile defense systems failed to intercept the missile fired at Ben Gurion, the busiest airport in the country.

Several international airlines canceled or diverted flights following the incident. Air Europa, SWISS, Lufthansa, ITA Airways, and Brussels Airlines have canceled all inbound and outbound flights to and from Israel.

The Houthis have intensified missile and drone launches toward Israel in recent weeks, amid renewed US airstrikes on their positions in Yemen.

The Houthi forces, who control much of northern Yemen, have been targeting Israel since November 2023 in what they describe as an act of solidarity with Palestinians amid the war in Gaza. The group has repeatedly said it would halt its attacks if the US hostilities cease and Israel ends its military campaign and blockade against Gaza.