A Houthi drone hit the arrivals hall at Ramon Airport in southern Israel, the Israeli military and the Israel Airports Authority said Sunday. No sirens were sounded, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, adding that the incident was under review.
It is rare for sirens not to warn of incoming projectiles in Israel, which has a multi-layered system to defend against missiles and drones. The vast majority of drones fired by the Houthis in Yemen have been intercepted before striking Israel.
A spokesperson for the Israel Airports Authority said the southern airspace over Ramon Airport closed to aircraft traffic, but the airport reopened after about 90 minutes. Ramon Airport is one of the few international airports in Israel, primarily serving the city of Eilat at the southern tip of the country.
Videos shared on social media showed shattered windows and glass-covered floors at the airport’s arrival hall.
Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s emergency response service, said that they received a report at 2:35 p.m. local time about a drone that fell in the Ramon Airport area. MDA said two people sustained minor injuries as a result of the attack.
There was no immediate comment from the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have repeatedly fired projectiles at Israel in protest over its war in Gaza.
In early May, a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis penetrated Israel’s air defenses and struck Ben Gurion international airport near Tel Aviv, halting flights for about 30 minutes. Israel’s long-range Arrow interceptor missile failed to stop the Houthi projectile before it hit. It marked the first time the Houthis had managed to strike such a well-defended target.
Israel and the Houthis have engaged in an escalating long-range conflict since the Iran-backed rebel group began targeting Israel in what the group’s leaders say is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The Houthis have also targeted shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, some of the world’s most critical waterways.
After the Houthis fired a ballistic missile armed with a new type of cluster warhead in late August, Israel carried out a strike that killed the group’s prime minister and other senior officials. An Israeli security official said the strike, carried out in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a, killed “a majority of the leadership,” including the foreign minister, minister for security affairs, and others.
Asked if the Houthi’s military chief and defense minister were killed, the official said, “If they are not dead, we will continue to hunt them down.”
Israel has also carried out strikes against Houthi military targets and civilian infrastructure the IDF says is used by the rebel group.
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