A ballistic missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels landed just 75 metres from Terminal 3 of Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, creating a 25-metre deep crater and injuring at least eight people.
A ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck perilously close to Israel’s main international gateway on Sunday, landing just 75 metres from Terminal 3 of Ben Gurion Airport and carving out a 25-metre deep crater within the airport’s secured perimeter. The missile, which reportedly bypassed four layers of Israel’s air defence systems, landed in a grove adjacent to an access road, narrowly missing critical infrastructure. It sent a plume of smoke into the air and triggered panic among passengers inside the terminal. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) acknowledged that several attempts to intercept the missile had failed.
At least eight people were injured in the strike, according to Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency medical service. A video released by the military showed officers examining the crater with the airport’s control tower visible in the background. “You can see the area just behind us — a crater was formed here, several dozen metres wide and several dozen metres deep,” said Yair Hezroni, police chief of the central district, in the video.
The breach has prompted a full-scale investigation into how the missile penetrated multiple layers of Israel’s aerial defences. Ben Gurion Airport, located outside Tel Aviv, is one of Israel’s most protected zones. The Iron Dome system, designed to intercept short-range rockets, typically serves as the first line of defence, supplemented by other missile interception systems.
Israel’s ‘sevenfold’ warning
Following the attack, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant issued a stern warning: “Whoever harms us, we will strike them sevenfold.” Despite several Houthi strikes on Israel in recent months, Jerusalem has so far refrained from direct retaliatory action against Yemen, as the United States leads broader operations against the Iran-backed rebel group.
Meanwhile, Houthi officials celebrated the strike as proof of their long-range precision capabilities. Senior Houthi leader Mohammed al-Bukhaiti told Al-Araby TV that the group has “no red lines” in its confrontation with Israel. Houthi media chief Nasser al-Din Omar also warned international airlines against flying to or from Israel, claiming such flights now faced significant safety risks.
(With inputs from agency)
