Houthi missile hits central Israel for first time, no injuries reported
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Moments earlier, air raid sirens had sounded in Tel Aviv and across central Israel, sending residents running for shelter.
PHOTO: REUTERS
JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would inflict a “heavy price” on the Iran-aligned Houthis, who control northern Yemen, after they reached central Israel with a missile on Sept 15 for the first time.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group struck with a new hypersonic ballistic missile that travelled 2,040km in just 11½ minutes.
After initially saying the missile had fallen in an open area, Israel’s military later said it had probably fragmented in the air, and that pieces of interceptors had landed in fields and near a railway station. Nobody was reported hurt.
Air raid sirens had sounded in Tel Aviv and across central Israel moments before the missile landed at around 6.35am local time (1.35am, Singapore time), sending residents running for shelter. Loud booms were heard.
Reuters saw smoke billowing in an open field in central Israel.
At a weekly Cabinet meeting, Mr Netanyahu said the Houthis should have known that Israel would exact a “heavy price” for attacks.
“Whoever needs a reminder of that is invited to visit the Hodeidah port,” Mr Netanyahu said, referring to an Israeli retaliatory air strike against Yemen in July that killed six and wounded 80, for a Houthi drone that hit Tel Aviv.
The Houthis have fired missiles at Israel repeatedly, in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians, since the Gaza war began with a Hamas attack on Israel in October.
Previously, Houthi missiles had not penetrated deep into Israeli airspace, with the only one reported to have hit Israeli territory falling in an open area near the Red Sea port of Eilat in March.
Israel should expect more strikes in the future “as we approach the first anniversary of the Oct 7 operation, including responding to its aggression on the city of Hodeidah”, Mr Sarea said.
The deputy head of the Houthis’ media office, Mr Nasruddin Amer, said in a post on social media platform X on Sept 15 that a Yemeni missile had reached Israel after “20 missiles failed to intercept” it, describing it as the “beginning”.
The Israeli military also said that 40 projectiles were fired towards Israel from Lebanon on Sept 15 and were either intercepted or landed in open areas.
“No injuries were reported,” the military said. REUTERS
