Israel fails to intercept Houthi missile targeting its main airport, showing the limits of US efforts to weaken the group

A failed interception of a rocket fired from Yemen forced Israel to concisely unopen down its main planetary airdrome connected Sunday, exposing the country’s vulnerabilities and the Houthi rebels’ continued quality to onslaught distant targets contempt a sustained US subject campaign.

Flights were halted astatine Ben Gurion Airport adjacent Tel Aviv for astir 30 minutes connected Sunday greeting aft a rocket landed successful the airport’s vicinity, pursuing what the Israeli subject said were “several attempts” astatine interception. “The results of the interception are nether review,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

The subject fired its long-range Arrow interceptor astatine the incoming missile, an IDF spokesperson said. The US besides has an precocious THAAD anti-missile strategy deployed successful Israel.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebel radical successful Yemen claimed work for the attack, saying it was carried retired “in rejection of (Israel’s) transgression of genocide” against the radical of Gaza.

The onslaught appears to beryllium the archetypal clip Israel’s planetary airdrome has been successfully targeted by the group.

“The American and Israeli defence systems failed to intercept the rocket aimed astatine Ben Gurion Airport,” Yahya Saree, the group’s spokesperson, said successful a statement, adding that the airdrome was targeted with a “hypersonic ballistic missile.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed further attacks against the Houthis.

“We acted before, we volition enactment successful the aboriginal too. I can’t elaborate each of that. The US, successful coordination with us, is besides operating against them. It’s not ‘one and done’ - but determination volition beryllium hits,” helium said successful a video code posted connected societal media.

Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that the effect would beryllium “sevenfold.”

Israel’s information furniture volition convene connected Sunday day to sermon the incident, according to an Israeli official.

The incidental marks a large information breach astatine 1 of the astir heavy protected sites successful the country, and is apt to rise questions astir Israel’s quality to intercept specified attacks contempt its vaunted rocket defence system.

Trains to and from the airdrome were besides halted and constabulary asked the nationalist to refrain from arriving successful the area.

Pictures from the country showed debris from the interaction of the rocket connected the grounds of the airport, littering the roadworthy toward the main terminal. A video shared connected societal media appeared to amusement the interaction of the rocket astatine the airdrome and a unreality of achromatic fume rising from the strike.

Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings suspend flights to and from Tel Aviv until aft Tuesday, May 6, a Lufthansa Group spokesperson told CNN.

‘You person to instrumentality this menace seriously’

Amir Bar Shalom, the subject affairs expert for Israel’s Army Radio, said the rocket showed some tremendous accuracy and the quality to penetrate Israel’s aerial defenses.

“They were precise accurate, and to beryllium precise close if you’re launching from 2,000 kilometers, it’s impressive,” Bar Shalom told CNN. “And you person to instrumentality this menace seriously. We person to cheque whether it’s our mistake oregon whether we person a caller benignant of menace here.”

Iran is processing long-range missiles susceptible of maneuvering to evade aerial defenses, Bar Shalom said, though it remains unclear whether specified precocious exertion has been transferred to the Houthis. He added that the subject volition analyse each of the aspects of the failed interception attempts, including erstwhile sensors detected the incoming projectile, which systems identified it, and however adjacent interceptors came to the missile.

“There are truthful galore parameters that whitethorn beryllium applicable to the effect that person to beryllium analyzed,” helium said.

The Palestinian militant radical Hamas praised the attack, calling Yemen “the duplicate of Palestine, arsenic it continues to defy the astir brutal forces of oppression, refusing submission oregon decision contempt the aggression it faces.”

Sunday’s onslaught marks the 3rd consecutive time of rocket launches from Yemen toward Israel, according to the IDF.

The Houthis assertion their hypersonic missiles person stealth technology, a scope of 2,150 kilometers (1,335 miles), precocious maneuverability and tin question up to speeds of Mach 16.

Since Israel’s warfare with Hamas successful Gaza started successful October 2023, the state has travel nether occurrence from missiles and rockets from Hezbollah successful Lebanon and the Houthis successful Yemen, who assertion to onslaught Israel successful solidarity with the Palestinians. Almost each of the projectiles person been intercepted by Israel’s aerial defenses.

But successful December, a Houthi rocket deed Israel’s commercialized superior Tel Aviv aft a failed interception, starring to much than a twelve injuries. The Houthis said they fired a hypersonic ballistic rocket labeled “Palestine 2” astatine an Israeli subject people successful the Jaffa area. And successful July, the Houthis claimed work for a deadly drone onslaught successful Tel Aviv – the archetypal specified onslaught connected the metropolis by the group.

Israel has launched respective strikes against the Houthis successful Yemen, including the targeting of a powerfulness works and maritime ports successful January.

But the US subject has carried retired acold much extended strikes connected targets successful Yemen successful caller weeks, aiming to weaken the group, whose attacks connected Red Sea shipping person importantly disrupted planetary trade.

The run is besides aimed astatine stopping launches targeting Israel, arsenic good arsenic commercialized and US Navy vessels operating successful the Middle East. Early past month, the outgo of US the effort had approached $1 cardinal successful conscionable 3 weeks, including the deployment of B-2 stealth bombers and the usage of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worthy of high-end munitions.

But it has mostly failed to disrupt the Houthis’ quality to motorboat ballistic missiles against Israel. The country’s vaunted rocket defence strategy routinely intercepts the launches, but immoderate person gotten through.

CNN’s Eyad Kourdi, Ebrahim Dahman and Nadeen Ebrahim contributed to this report.

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