Israel has vowed revenge against the Houthis after a surface-to-surface missile fired from Yemen landed in central Israel early on Sunday, close to Ben-Gurion international airport, setting off sirens across central Israel.
The Houthis “should have known by now that we exact a heavy price from anyone who tries to hurt us. Anyone who needs a reminder is welcome to visit the Hodeidah port,” prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said, in a reference to the Houthi-controlled port in Yemen which was attacked by dozens of Israeli jets in July after a Houthi drone hit Tel Aviv, killing a resident.
The projectile fired on Sunday apparently disintegrated in mid-air. No one was hurt but a train station close to the central city of Modi’in was damaged by shrapnel.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement that the Houthis launched a “new hypersonic ballistic missile” towards an Israeli military target – Israel denied it was hypersonic – and that Israel’s aerial defence systems failed to intercept it. He claimed the missile managed to cross 2,040km in 11 minutes.
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“As long as Israel’s aggression continues in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Israel should expect the worst,” he said.
More than 70 rockets were launched into northern Israel from Lebanon on Sunday. The barrages came after Israeli fighter jets attacked Hizbullah military depots in the Beqaa and Baalbek regions, deep inside Lebanese territory. The Israeli air force dropped leaflets in southern Lebanon calling on residents of one village to leave their homes.
US special envoy Amos Hochstein is due to hold more talks with Lebanese and Israeli officials in the region this week in what is seen by many as a last chance to avoid a significant Israeli escalation. Mr Netanyahu told ministers during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday that the situation on Israel’s northern border “can’t go on” and that it “requires a shift in the balance of powers”, adding that Israel will do “whatever it takes” to return safely to their homes the 60,000 residents who fled border communities 11 months ago.
Israel’s security cabinet is set to convene on Monday and is expected to add to Israel’s war aims the safe return of residents of the north.
The meeting comes amid differences between Mr Netanyahu and defence minister Yoav Gallant. The former believes that a war in the north will not undermine the military pressure in Gaza and will not jeopardise the chances of concluding a deal. Mr Gallant’s position is that the military are ready for war in the north, but such a move would decrease the chances of getting the hostages back because the army will be forced to divert troops from the southern theatre of operations to the north.
Massive street demonstrations were held on Saturday night across Israel demanding a Gaza ceasefire deal that would free hostages from Hamas captivity.
Israeli fighter jets struck what the Israeli military termed a Hamas command and control centre in Beit Hanoun, north of Gaza city, Sunday. According to the military, the facility in a former school building was used by Hamas operatives as a hideout and a staging ground for attacks against Israel and Israeli troops.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began on October 7th. Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 253 hostages seized in the surprise Hamas attack on that day. More than 60 living hostages, and the bodies of about 35 others taken captive but believed to be dead, are still in Gaza, according to the Israeli authorities.
