Houthis claim missile was aimed at airport as PM’s plane arrived; shot down by Arrow system ‘outside Israel’s borders,’ missile caused no injuries, but piece crashed near Jerusalem

A surface-to-surface ballistic missile launched at central Israel from Yemen Saturday evening was shot down by air defences “outside the country’s borders,” the IDF said in a statement.

The missile caused sirens to sound in central Israel due to fears of falling shrapnel. Its remains fell near the Jerusalem-area community of Tzur Hadassah, causing slight damage, police said.

The missile was shot down with the Arrow long-range missile defence system, which is designed to take out ballistic missiles while they are still outside the atmosphere.

The missile was fired shortly after the Iran-backed Houthis vowed that “the resistance won’t be broken,” in response to the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an IDF airstrike in Beirut on Friday.

The leader of the Houthis said the missile was aimed and timed to coincide with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s landing in Israel after returning from New York. In a televised speech, Abdul Malik al-Houthi also vowed that the death of Nasrallah “will not be in vain.”

The prime minister’s plane, known as Wing of Zion, had landed in Israel some 35 minutes before the sirens sounded.

The Houthis also took responsibility for an attack Friday morning, saying they had launched a ballistic missile at a military target in Tel Aviv and a drone at a “vital target” in Ashkelon. The missile was intercepted. The IDF said it was unaware of any drone reaching Israel.

Agencies