The Ramon Airport in Eilat, Israel’s second main airport, was out of operation for a couple of hours after it was struck by a UAV from Yemen.
By Rachel Avraham
The Houthi terrorist rebels launched four UAVs on Sunday from Yemen at Israel on Sunday, one of which struck Ramon International Airport north of Eilat, Arutz Sheva reported. According to the IDF, three of the drones were intercepted, two of which were outside prior to crossing into Israeli territory. Sirens were sounded in accordance with protocol. Interception debris fell outside a community on the Egypt border, within the Ramat Negev Regional Council, Arutz Sheva added.
The Israel Airports Authority confirmed that the UAV struck the arrivals hall at Ramon Airport. “At this stage, operations have been suspended, and takeoffs and landings at Ramon have been halted. The Airports Authority is working to resume normal activity as soon as possible. We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available,” the authority said in a statement. For two whole hours, Ramon Airport was out of operation.
The Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance service reported that it treated eight individuals who were hurt as a result of the strike: a 63-year-old man in who was lightly wounded, fully conscious, with shrapnel wounds to his limbs; a 52-year-old woman who fell and suffered minor injuries; two men aged 63 and 28, and a 24-year-old woman who were lightly hurt, experiencing ringing in the ears and shock from the blast; and three additional people treated for shock, Arutz Sheva reported.
The military said that there was “no indication of technical malfunction in the existing detection systems,” and the failure to shoot down the drone was solely a result of it not being classified as a threat, due to human error, the Times of Israel reported. According to the report, IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar was set to conduct a more in-depth probe into the drone attack later, the military added. A similar case happened in July 2024, when a Houthi drone was identified, but not classified as a threat, and struck a building in Tel Aviv, killing a man, the Times of Israel noted. According to the report, the military said that the Houthis have launched over 150 drones at Israel since the beginning of the war, 98% of which have been intercepted.
The incident marked a rare strike on Ramon Airport, officially the Ilana and Assaf Ramon International Airport, Israel’s second international gateway after Ben-Gurion Airport, the Jerusalem Post reported. Located north of Eilat in the southern Negev Desert, the facility has remained operational throughout much of the conflict despite repeated threats from Iran-backed groups in Yemen, the Jerusalem Post added.
Since the Gaza war began, the Houthis have carried out at least six successful strikes on Israeli territory, the dissident website Iran International reported. According to their report, an investigation by the Israeli military found that the Houthis used a ballistic missile armed with a cluster bomb warhead in its attack on Israel last month. One of the munitions from the strike hit the yard of a house in the central Israeli town of Ginaton, causing minor damage.
In May, a Houthi missile struck near Israel’s main Ben Gurion Airport, injuring eight people. Three of the Iran-backed group’s strikes on Israel came in December 2024, Iran International noted. On December 9, a drone launched from Yemen hit an apartment block in Yavne, between Tel Aviv and Ashdod, destroying two apartments. Ten days later, on December 19, a missile fired by the Houthis hit a school in Ramat Ef’al, a neighborhood in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan, causing extensive damage. On December 21, the Houthis fired the “Palestine 2,” which the group described as a hypersonic ballistic missile, that struck a playground in Jaffa, a district of Tel Aviv, injuring at least 16 people. Last July, the Houthis fired a long-range Iranian-made drone from Yemen that struck central Tel Aviv, killing one man and wounding several others, according to Israeli authorities.
Photo from Oneindia News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7awWQrqsOag
