A failed interception of a rocket dismissed from Yemen forced Israel to close his most important international airport on Sunday, causing the vulnerabilities of the country and the constant capacity of the Houthi rebels to stop distant goals, despite a persistent American military campaign.
Flights were stopped on Sunday morning for about 30 minutes at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv after a rocket landed in the vicinity of the airport, according to what the Israeli army said they were “different attempts” in interception. “The results of the interception are assessed,” said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The army fired its long -distance foam on the incoming rocket, said an IDF spokesperson. The US also has an advanced Thaad-Anti-Racing system that was used in Israel.
The Houthi rebel group supported by Iran claimed the responsibility for the attack and said it was performed “in rejection of (Israel's) genocide” to the people of Gaza.
The group later warned that it could strike again and would “impose an extensive air blockade” on Israel by “repeatedly focused on airports”, especially Ben Gurion. It called on international airlines to plan it accordingly and to cancel all planned flights to Israeli airports.
The strike seems to be the first time that Israel's international airport has been successfully directed by the group.
“The American and Israeli defense systems did not intercept the rocket that was aimed at Ben Gurion Airport,” said Yahya Saree, the spokesperson for the group, in a statement, adding that the airport was the target of a “hypersonic ballist rocket.”
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised further attacks against the Houthis.
“We have acted earlier, we will also act in the future. I can't all work it out. The US, in coordination with us, also works against them. It is not 'one and done' – but there will be hits,” he said in a video address on social media.
In a post to X later he also promised a reaction to Iran: “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack on our most important airport and, at a time and place of our choice, to their Iranian terrorists.”
Minister of Defense Israel Katz warned that the answer would be 'sevenfold'.
The Minister of Defense of Iran, Aziz Nasirzadeh, said that Iran would respond to every attack on it. By the state Maked Mehr news quoted: “If we are attacked whether a war is imposed on us, we will respond with power.”
“We will attack their interests and their bases, and we will not be reluctant and will not see any limits in this respect,” said Nasirzadeh Iranian TV, according to Mehr. “We are not enemies from our neighboring countries, and they are our brothers, but American bases on their soil will be our goals.”
Israel's safety cabinet was convened on Sunday afternoon to discuss the incident, according to an Israeli official.
Travelers wait outside the Ben Gurion airport while flights are interrupted. – Jack Guez/AFP/Getty –
The incident marks a major infringement of safety at one of the most heavily protected locations in the country and is likely to raise questions about Israel's ability to intercept such attacks, despite the acclaimed rocket weather system.
A first IDF investigation did not find a malfunction in systems or procedures, but a “technical problem” with the interceptor himself, which was launched in the direction of the Houthi rocket, the army said.
Trains to and from the airport were also stopped and the police asked the public to arrive in the area.
Photos from the scene showed debris of the impact of the rocket on the Airport site, which littered the road to the main terminal. A video that was shared on social media seemed to show the impact of the rocket at the airport and a cloud of black smoke rising from the strike.
Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian airlines, Brussels and Eurowings aprons airlines from and from Tel Aviv on until after Tuesday 6 May, a spokesperson for Lufthansa group told CNN.
“You have to take this threat seriously”
Amir Bar Shalom, the analyst of the military affairs for the Israeli army radio, said that the rocket showed both enormous accuracy and the ability to penetrate Israel's air defense.
“They were very accurate and to be very accurate when you launch 2,000 kilometers, it is impressive,” Bar Shalom told CNN. “And you have to take this threat seriously. We have to check whether it is our fault or whether we have a new kind of threat here.”
Iran develops long -distance missiles that can maneuver to avoid air defenses, Bar Shalom said, although it remains unclear whether such advanced technology has been transferred to the Houthis. He added that the army will analyze all aspects of the failed interception attempts, including when sensors detected the incoming projectile, which systems identified it and how close by came to the rocket.
“There are so many parameters that can be relevant to the result that must be analyzed,” he said.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas praised the attack and called Yemen “the twins of Palestine, because it continues to defy the most brutal forces of oppression, refusing submission or defeat despite the aggression with which he is confronted.”
Sunday's strike marks the third consecutive day of rocket launches from Yemen to Israel, according to the IDF.
The Houthis claim that their hypersonic missiles have a stealth technology, a range of 2,150 kilometers (1,335 miles), high maneuverability and can travel to the speeds of Mach 16.
Israeli emergency services clearly debris from a road outside the Ben Gurion airport. – Jack Guez/AFP/Getty –
Since Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza started in October 2023, the country has been attacked by rockets and rockets of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, who claim to hit Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians. Almost all projectiles are intercepted by Israel's air defense.
But in December a Houthi rocket was Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv after a failed interception, which led to more than a dozen injuries. The Houthis said they fired a hypersonic ballistic rocket with the “Palestine 2” label on an Israeli military target in the Jaffa area. And in July the Houthis claimed the responsibility for a deadly drone attack in Tel Aviv – the first such strike in the city by the group.
Israel has launched various strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, including the aiming of a power plant and maritime ports in January.
But in recent weeks the US Army has carried out much more extensive attacks on goals in Yemen, aimed at weakening the group, whose attacks on the Red Sea have considerably disrupt world trade.
The campaign is also aimed at stopping launches aimed at Israel, as well as commercial and American naval ships that are active in the middle. At the beginning of last month, the costs of us had approached $ 1 billion in just three weeks, including the use of B-2 Stealth-bombers and the use of hundreds of millions of dollars in high-end ammunition.
But mostly it has not succeeded in the ability of the Houthis to disrupt ballistic missiles against Israel. The acclaimed rocket defense system of the country intercepts the launches routinely, but some have endured.
CNN's Eyad Kourdi, Ebrahim Dahman and after Ebrahim contributed to this report.
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