Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis after a missile fired by the group struck the grounds of Israel’s main airport.
In a video posted on social media, Netanyahu threatened strikes, saying: “We attacked in the past, we will attack in the future”.
The missile, fired from Yemen by the Iran-backed group, landed near the main terminal of Ben Gurion airport on Sunday morning, Israeli authorities said.
Four people were injured by the blast, with another two injured on their way to a shelter, Israeli media reported, citing emergency services. None were seriously hurt.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised statement that the Israeli airport was “no longer safe for air travel”.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, responded to the attack by saying: “Anyone who hits us, we will hit them seven times stronger”.
In a later statement, Netanyahu said “attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran”, adding Israel would respond to the Houthi attack, and to Iran “at a time and place of our choosing”.
Unverified footage posted online appeared to show drivers on a road nearby pulled over to take cover as a projectile lands, creating a plume of black smoke near the airport, which is on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
The airport has now reopened to flights, after temporarily halting them – though several major airlines, including Lufthansa, Air France and Delta, cancelled Sunday’s flights to and from the airport.
Sirens were activated in several parts of the country as the missile approached – and the Israeli Air Force said it was investigating the failure to intercept it.
Citing defence sources, Israeli media reported that both Israel’s long-range Arrow air defence system and a US-made Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) battery failed to intercept the missile.
Senior Israeli police commander Yair Hetzroni showed journalists a crater caused by the impact of the missile, which airport authorities said had landed beside a road near a Terminal three parking lot.
“You can see the scene right behind us here, a hole that opened up with a diameter of tens of metres and also tens of metres deep,” Hetzroni said, adding that there was no significant damage.
Netanyahu is set to meet ministers and defence officials on Sunday to discuss a response, local media reported.
The Houthis, an Iran-backed rebel group based in Yemen, have regularly launched missile attacks at Israel in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza, but it is rare for one to make it through Israel’s sophisticated air defences.
The group have also been carrying out attacks on ships in the Red Sea, which the US has responded to by leading a bombing campaign against it – which the UK has assisted in.
