For the first time, a Houthi missile struck inside the grounds of Ben Gurion International Airport. Sirens sounded across central Israel at 9:22 AM yesterday, Sunday, May 4, before the missile landed inside a grove of trees near Terminal Three, several hundred yards from the airport control tower, wounding six people. The access road to Terminal 3 suffered damage as a result of the crash.
The IDF stated that several attempts using the long-range Arrow air defense system and the US’s THAAD system failed to intercept the missile. While the Houthis made public statements claiming the attack was carried out by a hypersonic missile, there is no evidence that this was the case.
An Israeli Air Force probe into the missile’s failure to intercept found that the interceptor itself likely had a technical malfunction.
“The initial findings indicate that no failure was found in the identification process, the operation of the interception systems, and the warning for the home front,” the military said.
Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen have launched some 27 ballistic missiles and several drones at Israel. Only around half of them triggered sirens in the country and were shot down, while the others fell short.
Ben Gurion Airport halted takeoffs and landings following the launch of the ballistic missile. It reopened its airspace about an hour after the rocket hit. German Lufthansa, including SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Hungarian Wizz Air, and Brussels Airlines, cancelled all flights until Tuesday, as did Hungarian Wizz Air, ITA Italian Airlines, and United Airlines. Spanish Air Europa cancelled all flights to Israel for the entire day. By late afternoon, France’s Air France and US carrier Delta also cancelled their flights for the rest of the day.
President Trump responded to the attack, placing the blame on Iran.
“Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!” wrote the US president in a post on his Truth Social Platform.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed with the president, adding a direct threat.
“President Trump is absolutely right!” wrote Netanyahu on X. “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, to their Iranian terror masters.”
