Netanyahu promises an answer after the Houthi missiles strike near the main airport in Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to retaliate against the Houthis after a missile fired by the group struck the ground from Israel’s main airport.
In a video published on social networks, Netanyahu has threatened strikes against the group, saying: “We have attacked in the past, we will attack in the future”.
The missile, taken from Yemen by the group supported by Iran, landed near the main terminal of Ben Gurion airport on Sunday morning, the Israeli authorities announced.
Four people were injured by the explosion, with two other injured on the way to a refuge, the Israeli media reported, citing emergency services.
Houthi’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a television statement that Israeli airport was “no longer sure for plane trips”.
The Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement: “Whoever strikes us, we will hit them seven times as strong”.
In a subsequent statement, Netanyahu said that “the attacks of the Houthis emanate from Iran”, adding that Israel would respond to the Houthi attack, and “at one point and a place of choice” to Iran.
Uncorified images published online seemed to show drivers on a nearby road stopped to covered like a projectile, creating a plume of black smoke near the airport, which is on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
The airport has now reopened its doors to flights, after having temporarily interrupted them – although several major airlines, including Lufthansa, Air France and Delta, canceled Sunday flights to the airport.
The sirens were activated in several parts of the country as the missile approach – and the Israeli Air Force said that it was investigating the failure of the interception.
Israeli police director Yair Hetzroni showed journalists a crater caused by the impact of the missile, which, according to the airport authorities, had landed next to a road near a parking lot of three terminals.
“You can see the scene just behind us here, a hole that has opened with a diameter of tens of meters and also tens of meters deep,” said Hetzroni, adding that there was no significant damage.
Netanyahu is expected to meet ministers and defense officials on Sunday to discuss an answer, local media reported.
The Houthis, a rebellious group supported by Iran based in Yemen, have regularly launched missile attacks in Israel in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza, but it is rare for that of crossing the sophisticated air defenses of Israel.
The group also conducted attacks on ships in the Red Sea, to which the United States responded by carrying out a bombing campaign against it-which the United Kingdom has helped.
