Jerusalem
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Israeli forces and Israeli airport authorities said the drones launched from Yemen by the Hooty rebels that hit the arrival hall at Ramon Airport in southern Israel arrived at Ramon Airport on Sunday.
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) said, adding that the incident is under review.
It is rare that sirens do not warn Israel’s incoming projectiles. Israel has multi-layered systems that protect missiles and drones. Most of the drones fired by Yemeni Houtis were intercepted before hitting Israel.
The Israeli Air Force said the initial investigation found the drone was detected but not classified as hostile and could fly through air defense.
“There are no indications of technical malfunction in the existing detection systems,” the military said in a statement Sunday, adding that “extensive investigations” are expected. The military said several other drones were intercepted on Sunday.
An Israeli Airport Authority spokesperson said airspace south of Ramon Airport was closed after the incident but reopened about 90 minutes later.
Ramon Airport is one of Israel’s few international airports, serving mainly the city of Eilat, located at the southern tip of the Red Sea country.
A video shared on social media showed crushed windows and glass-covered floors in the airport’s arrival hall.
Israeli emergency response service Magen David Adom (MDA) said it received a report on a drone that had come down in the Ramon Airport area at 2:35pm local time. MDA said two people suffered minor injuries as a result of the attack.
The Yemeni army, managed by Houthi, issued a statement after the attack warning airline that “the airports that occupy Palestine are not safe and will be targeted continuously.”
The rebel group said the drones “clashed directly into the airport, closed the airport and stopped air traffic.”
Israel and the Houtis have been engaged in escalating long-distance conflicts since Iran-backed rebel groups began targeting Israel by what group leaders say is solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. Houthis also targets transport in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, some of the world’s most important waterways.
In early May, a ballistic missile launched by the Housis penetrated Israel’s air defenses, struck Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, halting the flight for about 30 minutes. Israeli long-range arrow interceptor missiles were unable to stop the Footie projectile before it hit. It was the first time Houthis was able to hit such a well-defended target.
After Houthis launched a ballistic missile armed with a new type of cluster warhead in late August, Israel carried out a strike in killing the group’s prime minister and other senior officials. Israeli security officials said the strikes in Yemen’s capital Sanaa killed “majority of leadership,” including the Foreign Minister, the Security Bureau and others.
Asked whether the Houthi military secretary and the defense minister were killed, authorities said, “If they don’t die, we will continue to hunt them down.”
Israel is also implementing strikes against civilian infrastructure, which it says is using Houthi military targets and IDF by rebel groups.
