Hours after Israelis woke up to sirens in central Israel due to a missile from Yemen, the Iran-backed Shiite group claimed responsibility for the attack, triggering a warning by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel knows how to exact a price and could do so again.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Remarks at the Start of the Government Meeting:
"We are in a multi-front campaign against Iran's axis of evil, which is striving for our destruction.https://t.co/Kto1KppVQE pic.twitter.com/0CDycl03XN
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 15, 2024
"The Houthis should have already known that we exact a heavy price for any attempt to harm us. Anyone who needs a reminder is welcome to visit the port of Hodeidah," Netanyahu said, referring to the Israeli strike on the Yemeni port in July just after the Houthis sent an explosive drone to Tel Aviv, which killed one person.
In a speech by its spokesperson just before noon on Sunday, the Houthis claimed that the missile that hit the Tel Aviv area was a hypersonic missile since it travelled more than 2000 km in 11 minutes before hitting Israeli soil. "Israeli air defense system failed to intercept, confront Yemeni missile," he claimed, adding, "Hypersonic ballistic missile managed to reach its target." He further said that the missile that hit the Tel Aviv area targeted a military site in the "Jaffa area," using the Arabic name for Tel Aviv.
Video: Passengers taking cover as sirens blast at Ben-Gurion International Airport on September 15, 2024 / Yossi Zeliger
This missile marks the first such event over central Israel since August when a missile fell into the sea without triggering alerts. A month earlier, a drone launched by the Houthi rebels in Yemen hit central Tel Aviv, resulting in one Israeli fatality and triggering an unprecedented strike by the Israeli Air Force on the strategic Yemeni port of Hodeidah. The sirens Sunday echoed through major population centers, including Or Yehuda, Yehud-Monosson, Kiryat Ono, Holon, Ramat Gan, Rishon LeZion, Rehovot, Lod, Ramla, Ness Ziona, Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut, Elad, and Shoham. The alert system was also activated in the Latrun area and select parts of Samaria. Central Israel has not had a siren for incoming projectile in months.
A senior Houthi official said over the weekend that "there will be surprises" in the coming days that Israel and the US would not be expecting. Since July, the Houthis have been threatening a response to the Israeli strike on the port of Hodeidah.
