Houthi missile hits central Israel; Netanyahu vows heavy retaliation

JERUSALEM: The Iran-aligned Houthis who control northern Yemen hit central Israel with a missile for the first timeon Sunday and promised more strikes to come in solidarity with the Palestinians.

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Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group struck with a new hypersonic ballistic missile that travelled 2,040 km (1270 miles) in just 11 1/2 minutes. Israel’s military said the missile fell in an open area and nobody was hurt.

Air raid sirens had sounded in Tel Aviv and across central Israel moments before the missile landed at around 6:35AM local time (0335 GMT), sending residents running for shelter. Loud booms were heard, which the military said came from missile interceptors.

“Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in central Israel, a surface-to-surface missile was identified crossing into central Israel from the east and fell in an open area. No injuries were reported,” the Israeli military said.

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Reuters saw smoke billowing in an open field in central Israel, though it was not immediately possible to determine if the fire was caused by the missile or interceptor debris.

The Houthis have fired missiles at Israel repeatedly in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians, since the Gaza war began with a Hamas attack on Israel in October.

Previously, Houthi missiles have not penetrated deep into Israeli air space, with the only one reported to have hit Israeli territory falling in an open area near the Red Sea port of Eilat in March.

Apart from missiles, the Houthis have also attacked Israel with drones, including one that hit Tel Aviv for the first time in July, killing a man and wounding four people. That attack prompted Israeli air strikes on Houthi military targets near the port of Hodeidahthat killedsix and wounded 80.

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Israel should expect more strikes in the future “as we approach the first anniversary of the October 7 operation, including responding to its aggression on the city of Hodeidah,” Sarea said.

The deputy head of the Houthi’s media office, Nasruddin Amer, said in a post on X on Sunday that the 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 Sunday and were either intercepted or landed in open areas.

“No injuries were reported,” the military said.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the Houthis in Yemen should have known that Israel would exact a heavy price after an attack on Israeli soil.

At a weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu also said that the current situation in northern Israel “will not continue,” and that he was determined to do everything possible to return northern evacuees to their homes.