Yemen's Houthis fire missile at central Israel, missile breaks up within Israeli airspace

Yemen's Houthis fired at least one ballistic missile, possibly more, on the Tel Aviv and central Israel areas, IDF sources said on Sunday.

Nine people were lightly wounded while running to safe rooms following the sirens, Magen David Adom reported, adding that paramedics had evacuated the injured to the hospital. 

The IDF said that the Arrow air defense system shot the missile down. Still, pieces of shrapnel fell near Gezer and possibly in three other areas, including Paatei Modiin train station near Modiin and Rehovot, signaling that Israel's systems failed to shoot down the missile outside of Israeli airspace.

Platform four at the train station sustained damage as a result.

Police said it was operating at the scene in which debris from an interceptor had been found in central Israel. 

IDF sources accepted that the Arrow 3 defense system may have missed the missile outside of Israeli airspace. After an attempt to intercept it using the Iron Dome system, the missile broke up on its own in Israeli airspace. 

צה"ל הודיע שזוהה שיגור של טיל קרקע-קרקע שחצה לשטח ישראל מכיוון מזרח. יירוטים נצפו מעל אשדוד@ItayBlumental (אורלי אלקלעי) pic.twitter.com/WAFANOCCWe

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) September 15, 2024

Unofficial reports claimed the missile flew from Yemen over Saudi Arabia and Jordan on its trajectory to Israel.

Another ballistic missile fired?

There were also unconfirmed reports of a second-fired ballistic missile or threat possibly near Ashdod. Initially, it was unclear who had fired the missile, but the main likely candidates had been Yemen's Houthis or Iran, though theoretically, other Iranian proxies in Syria or Iraq could have been involved.

It was one of the few times in several months that rockets have been fired on the Tel Aviv and central Israel areas.

Earlier unofficial reports indicating a threat fell near Ashdod appear to be a false alarm.

Earlier reports, which were a mix of official confirmations and unofficial reports indicating four areas where shrapnel hit, appear to have been correct in three out of four areas, confirmed by IDF sources, though the IDF has not issued a public confirmation in that regard.

In late July, the Houthis hit a building in Tel Aviv with a drone. This led Israel to strike Hodeidah Port in Yemen in retaliation, significantly damaging the Houthis’ weapons and capacity there.

The Houthis have since vowed revenge and had tried, after that time, to fire ballistic missiles at Eilat. All prior ballistic missiles from Yemen were shot down out of Israeli airspace.

On July 31, Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran; Iran accused Israel of being behind it.

Since then, Iran has threatened either directly or by its proxies, to strike back, but had also signaled in late August, that it might not undertake a much larger attack.

In April, Iran fired over 300 aerial threats, including 120 ballistic missiles, 170 drones, and dozens of cruise missiles at Israel, but 99% were shot down, with no casualties, and only a few landed in the South, causing some non-strategic damage to army bases.

In the North, Hezbollah fired several dozen rockets as well and launched several drones throughout the day.

Some were intercepted, while others impacted in open areas, the military said.

The IDF said late Sunday night that several soldiers were lightly wounded from the rocket barrage to the North. It added that they were treated on the spot and none required further medical attention.

IDF Air Force Chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar said late Sunday night, “We will continue to defend [Israel] and we know how to respond with a long arm against all those who seek to perpetrate evil against us.”

In retaliation, Israel increased its attacks on Hezbollah’s rocket launching cells to dozens of strikes.