JERUSALEM: A Yemeni rebel missile fired from Yemen triggered a rush to shelters in central Israel on Sunday (Sep 15), causing no injuries but again adding to regional tensions nearly a year into the Gaza war
After the incident, AFP photographers saw firefighters putting out a brush fire near Lod, and saw broken glass at a train station in Modin. Both areas are southeast of Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial hub.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who claimed the attack, are among Iran-backed groups in the Middle East that have been drawn into the conflict after Hamas Palestinian militants’ Oct 7 attack attack against Israel triggered war in Gaza.
The rebels targeted an Israeli “military position” in the Jaffa area, around Tel Aviv, using a “ballistic missile that succeeded in reaching its target”, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said in a video statement, adding that “the enemy’s defences failed to intercept it”.
In July, the Houthis claimed a drone strike that penetrated Israel’s air defences and killed a civilian in Tel Aviv, at least 1,800km from Yemen.
Israel’s military said “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 missile was fired from Yemen,” it added later.
Sirens sounded prior to the missile, the military said, leading to what local media described as a scramble for shelters in the greater Tel Aviv area.
A paramedic service said several people were slightly injured while “on their way to shelters”.
Israeli police said they were at the scene near Shfela, east of Tel Aviv, where a fragment of an air-defence interceptor had come down, adding there were no casualties.
Yemen’s Huthis have been launching attacks against Israel and its perceived interests in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The rebels are part of the “axis of resistance”, which also includes Tehran-aligned militant groups in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
