A missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis reached central Israel on Sunday, setting off sirens from Tel Aviv to the Jerusalem foothills and apparently breaking up in mid-air as several attempts were made to shoot it down, the Israeli military said.
The rebel group, whose long-range attacks on Israel in solidarity with Hamas’ almost year-old war against it from Gaza have mostly been intercepted over the Red Sea, said the missile they used to penetrate the Tel Aviv outskirts was new and hypersonic. They didn’t elaborate on the model.
It marked the deepest reach yet for a missile launched from Yemen — some 2,000 km (1,240 miles) away from Israel — by the Houthis, who in July managed to guide a drone into Tel Aviv, where it exploded, killing a local man. Then, Israel retaliated with a counterstrike on Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeida the following day.
“The Houthis should already have been aware that we exact a heavy price for any attempt to attack us,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “Anyone who needs a reminder is welcome to visit Hodeida.”
The military said both the high-altitude Arrow interceptor and the short-range Iron Dome interceptor were repeatedly activated against Sunday’s projectile and that their performance was still under review.
“An initial inquiry indicates that the missile most likely fragmented in mid-air,” it said.
In March, Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies analyzed reports that the Houthis had developed hypersonic missiles. Such weapons, it said, would pose a challenge to the Israel Defense Forces due to their high speed and maneuverability.
Like Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has also been attacking Israel since the Gaza war erupted in October, the Houthis are aligned with Iran.
Medics said nine people suffered injuries in Sunday’s early morning rush to shelters as sirens blared in the commercial capital Tel Aviv all the way to Modiin, halfway to Jerusalem.
Police published pictures of a damaged escalator and shattered glass, saying it was caused by debris from an interceptor missile. The fire department said a blaze was set off in brush-land near the town of Lod, which was under control.
Israeli media carried a picture of large hole in a field, which they described as having been caused by the Houthi missile. Bloomberg couldn’t immediately verify that the authenticity of the image.
According to a U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency study published in February, Iran has since 2015 been providing the Houthis with a variety of missiles. The study named one which would put Israel within range: the Toofan, resembling Iran’s Shahab-3 and carrying an 800 kilogram (1,764-pound) warhead.
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