Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday threatened to launch airstrikes on Yemen after a Houthi missile struck near Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, disrupting air traffic, reports aa.com.tr.
Netanyahu convened an emergency security meeting to discuss more strikes on Yemen, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority KAN.
“President Trump is absolutely right! Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran. Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing,” Netanyahu wrote on X following the security meeting.
He also shared a March 17, 2025, post by Trump in which the US president attacked the Houthis for targeting Israel amid its genocide in Gaza.
KAN reported that Netanyahu’s security consultation resulted in a “clear decision” to carry out further attacks on Yemen.
The Houthis have repeatedly announced ballistic missile launches at Ben Gurion Airport, but Sunday marked the first time Israel confirmed a Yemeni missile landed near the facility and directly disrupted air traffic.
Channel 13 said several international carriers, including Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Air India, ITA Airways, and Air Europa, canceled their Sunday flights to Tel Aviv.
The Israeli “Arrow” (Hetz) air defense system and the US “THAAD” system both failed to intercept the missile, causing minor injuries to seven people and grounding flights for about an hour, according to the channel.
Since mid-March, Yemen has faced an intensified US military campaign, including around 1,300 air and naval strikes, resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties, according to the Houthis.
The Houthis have targeted ships passing through the Red and Arabian seas, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden since November 2023 in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where nearly 52,500 people have been killed in a brutal Israeli assault for more than 19 months.
The group halted attacks when a Gaza ceasefire was declared in January between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas but resumed them after Israel’s renewed airstrikes on Gaza in March.
The Israeli army also continued its systematic home demolitions in Rafah in southern Gaza amid gunfire by helicopter gunships, witnesses said.
More than 52,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
