Early Shabbat morning, residents of Central Israel were forced to run to bomb shelters, as the Houthis in Yemen fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the Jewish state.
By Rachel Avraham
At 3:47am on Saturday morning, the bomb sirens were sounded in Airport City, Bnei Brak, Herzliya, Hod HaSharon, Kfar Chabad, Lod, Modiin, Holon, Petach Tikva, Ramat Gan, Ramla, Rehovot, Rishon LeTzion, Tel Aviv, Jaffa and other areas across Central Israel.
According to the Chinese media, Yemen’s Houthi terror group launched a hypersonic ballistic missile toward Israel, targeting what it described as “sensitive sites” in the Jaffa area in southern Tel Aviv. In a statement broadcast on the group’s al-Masirah TV on Saturday, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said that the missile had multiple warheads and caused residents to flee to bomb shelters. He also claimed that the strike had “achieved its objectives.”
The Times of Israel reported that the military says it has identified the launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen, with the attack setting off sirens in Tel Aviv and large parts of central Israel. According to the report, the Israel Defense Forces adds that air defenses are working to intercept the Houthi missile.
Afterwards, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it successfully intercepted a missile launched from Yemen into Israeli territory early Saturday morning. Israel’s national emergency service, Magen David Adom, said in a statement that there were no reports of hits or casualties.
The launch comes after an IDF spokesperson revealed yesterday that the Air Force intercepted no fewer than 10 drones launched from Yemen over the past week, Arutz Sheva reported. Earlier this week, Arutz Sheva reported that the IAF struck military targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime in the areas of Sanaa and Al Jawf in Yemen. Among the targets struck are military camps in which operatives of the terrorist regime were identified, the Houthis’ Military Public Relations Headquarters, and a fuel storage facility that was used by the terrorist regime for terrorist activity.
The IDF noted that the strikes were conducted in response to attacks by the Houthi terrorist regime against the State of Israel, including launching UAVs and surface-to-surface missiles toward Israeli territory, Arutz Sheva added.
Yedioth Achronot reported that this rocket launch came after the United States imposed a fresh round of sanctions targeting Yemen’s Houthis on Thursday in what the Trump administration said was Washington’s largest such action aimed at the Iran-aligned group. According to the report, the U.S. Treasury Department said it was issuing sanctions against 32 individuals and entities as well as four vessels in an effort to disrupt the Houthis’ fundraising, smuggling and attack operations.
According to Arutz Sheva, the US Treasury Department characterized this action as the largest-to-date sanctions initiative specifically targeting the Houthi terror group, underscoring the severity with which the Trump administration views their ongoing threats.
“The Houthis continue to threaten US personnel and assets in the Red Sea, attack our allies in the region, and undermine international maritime security in coordination with the Iranian regime,” said John Hurley, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence. According to the report, the Houthis have continued to attack shipping lanes in the Red Sea, which the group claims are in support of Hamas amid the war in Gaza.
Photo from Government of India: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypersonic_weapon#/media/File:Hypersonic_LRASHM.jpg
