Houthis strike Tel Aviv airport as Israel plans to expand Gaza ops

A missile launched by Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen on Sunday briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at Israel’s main international airport after an impact left a plume of smoke and caused panic among passengers.

The Houthi rebels have been striking Israel throughout the war in Gaza in solidarity with Palestinians. The attack on Ben-Gurion International Airport came hours before top Israeli Cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip. The army meanwhile began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in Gaza, officials said.

The missile launch on Sunday set off air raid sirens in multiple parts of Israel. A plume of smoke was visible at the airport, according to footage shared by Israeli media. Passengers were heard yelling and scrambling for cover.

It was not immediately clear whether the projectile, which landed in a field near an access road leading to airport parking lots, was the missile or its fragments, or an interceptor from Israel’s air defence systems. It left a deep crater in the ground and a nearby road was littered with dirt.

Police said that air, road and rail traffic were halted following the attack. The traffic resumed after about an hour, Israel Airports Authority said. Israel’s paramedic service Magen David Adom said four people were lightly wounded.

Houthi military spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Saree said in a video statement that the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.

On the Gaza front, far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, in an interview with Israeli Army Radio, said he wanted to see a “powerful” expansion of the war, but did not disclose details as to what the new plans would entail.

“We need to increase the intensity and continue until we achieve total victory. We must win a total victory,” he said. He demanded that Israel bomb “the food and electricity supplies” in Gaza.

The plans to escalate fighting in Gaza more than 18 months after the war there erupted come as a humanitarian crisis in the territory deepens. Israel’s offensive has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians

On the Houthi attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate. “We attacked in the past, we will attack in the future,” he said in a video circulated by his office.