The Israel State Cup in soccer between Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Be’ersheva was interrupted by a Houthi missile on Thursday night.
By Rachel Avraham
At 9:21pm on Thursday evening, the bomb sirens sounded in Netanya, Ben-Gurion International Airport, Herzliya, Hod Ha-Sharon, Holon, Modiin, Kfar Chabad, Kfar Saba, Petach Tikva, Ramat Gan, Ra’anana, Ramla, Rishon Le-Tzion, Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Abu Ghosh, Bet Shemesh, and other areas across Central Israel.
Shortly after the bomb sirens were sounded, the IDF announced that they intercepted a Houthi missile that was fired from Yemen, Arutz Sheva reported. According to the report, as a result of the attack, the Israel State Cup in soccer between Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Be’er Sheva, which was in its 40th minute in Tel Aviv’s Bloomfield Stadium, was temporarily suspended. It has since resumed.
Arutz Sheva reported that among those in the crowd at the game was Israeli President Isaac Herzog. According to the report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a fan of the Jerusalem club, also planned to attend but did not due to strict security arrangements.
This is the fifth missile the Houthis have fired at Israel in the last week, the Jerusalem Post reported. According to the report, Magen David Adom confirmed that no calls have been received about casualties, except for cases of anxiety and people who were injured on the way to a protected area.
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday, the Houthis also launched two missiles at Israel, both intercepted by the IDF. According to the report, the missiles were launched only three hours apart, and sirens were only activated in Judea and Samaria. All of the missiles in the past week were intercepted by the IDF.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the IDF attacked Yemen’s Sanaa International Airport on Wednesday in response to several Houthi ballistic missile attacks fired against Israel over the last week. According to the report, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the air force destroyed the last airplane the Houthis still had to use at the airport after Israel had already struck it multiple times in the past several months.
The Jerusalem Post further reported that Katz said that Israel had or was in the process of instituting an aerial and naval blockade on the Houthis to try to deter them from future attacks on the Jewish state. Meanwhile, Israel Hayom has reported that many international airlines still refuse to fly to Israel due to the Houthi threat.
Israel Hayom reported that Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has extended its suspension of flights until August 1. According to the report, the Lufthansa Group is extending its suspension of all flights to and from Tel Aviv until June 15. The group includes Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings. Israel Hayom reported that Transavia is extending its cancellations until June 3 and Iberia Express is cancelling flights until May 31.
According to the report, AirBaltic is extending its flight cancellations until June 2, while United Airlines is suspending service until June 12. Israel Hayom noted that ITA is also extending its cancellations until June 8. According to the report, British Airways is suspending its flights until July 31, deep into the summer season. Meanwhile, Air India has extended its cancellations until June 18. According to the report, EasyJet is pushing back its flight resumption until the end of June. Israel Hayom added that Air Canada, which had been expected to resume service on June 8, has delayed its return until September 2025.
Photo from AElfwine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistic_missile#/media/File:Fus%C3%A9e_V2.jpg
