Yemen's Houthi rebels warned airlines on Sunday that flights to Israel are “unsafe” after a drone attack breached Israeli air defences and shut down the southern Ramon Airport.
Two people were injured as shrapnel fell at the airport near the southern city of Eilat. Israel closed its airspace in the area before the military allowed flights to resume on Sunday evening.
The Israeli army said several drones were fired towards its territory from Yemen on Sunday. Some were intercepted, but one drone “fell in the Ramon Airport area”, it said.
The military was investigating after sirens failed to sound and Israel's renowned air defences were unable to shoot down the drone. Houthi rebels in Yemen regularly launch drones at Israel but it is relatively rare that they cause damage.
Israel's initial findings were that the drone was detected but not classified as hostile, the army said. "Accordingly, the interception and alert systems were not activated."
The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack late on Sunday, calling it a “large-scale military operation” in which eight drones were fired. They said attacks would continue until Israel ends its “aggression” against Gaza.
“We warn all airlines that airports inside occupied Palestine are unsafe and will be continuously targeted,” the Houthi armed forces said, referring to Israel. “Airlines must leave occupied Palestine and avoid returning to these airports, as they are no longer secure.”
The Houthis have emerged as one of Israel's most durable foes during its war on Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel had “dealt very hard blows” to the group, which saw much of its leadership killed in an Israeli strike on Sanaa last month.
Mr Netanyahu also claimed that 100,000 people had left Gaza city as Israeli troops advance. Many have been reluctant to leave, fearing an Israeli attempt to force Palestinians out of their homes for good.
Israel's airports authority said Ramon Airport had reopened after “safety and security checks” and the “final approval” of the Israeli air force. It said the first flight was taking off to Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.
Israel's ambulance service, Magen David Adom, said two people were injured and taken to hospital. One was a 63-year-old man with mild shrapnel wounds to his limbs, and the other a 52-year-old woman who was injured in a fall. It said several people were showing symptoms of anxiety.
Israel’s airport authority said a drone hit the arrivals hall. Video from the scene showed shattered windows and glass shards littering an open space close to baggage security check area.
For most of the war, people in Israel have had to rely on a small number of domestic carriers, which dramatically pushed up prices, particularly on key routes to the US. El Al, the national carrier, has faced anger and accusations of price gouging, which it denies, despite making massive profits.
With the gradual return of foreign carriers, the price and selection of flights on offer has become much better – raising the concern that the attack on Ramon might reverse this trend if carriers get jittery again.
In a broader sense, the fact that the Houthis, about 2,000 kilometres away from Israel, are able to evade Israeli air defences and target vital infrastructure despite sustaining heavy US and Israeli attacks is a sign of how complex it is for Israel to manage the problem.
Sunday’s attack came two weeks after the Israeli strike on Sanaa, the Houthi-held capital of Yemen, that killed the prime minister of the Houthi government, along with much of his cabinet.
Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb Al Rahawi was the most senior Houthi official killed so far in the Israeli-US campaign against the Iran-backed rebels.
In May, a Houthi missile exploded near Israel’s main airport, injuring four people and causing many airlines to cancel their flights to Israel for months. Israel later struck and destroyed the main airport in Sanaa.
The rebels have been launching missiles and drones towards Israel in solidarity with Palestinians during the Gaza war, as well as attacking Red Sea shipping.
Israel's Defence Minister pledged on Thursday to inflict the biblical 10 plagues of Egypt on the Houthis after they increased their missile attacks against Israel.
“The Houthis are firing missiles at Israel again. A plague of darkness, a plague of the firstborn – we will complete all 10 plagues,” Israel Katz posted on X.
He was referring to the 10 disasters that the Book of Exodus says were inflicted on Egypt by God to convince the pharaoh to free the enslaved Israelites.
