Cruise missile from Yemen explodes near Israeli city, first time ever

Security footage showed a large explosion, with the impact sending pillars of smoke and flames into the air.

By World Israel News Staff

A cruise missile fired from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen reached Israel for the first time on Monday, exploding in an open area just outside of the Red Sea resort city of Eilat.

Since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war, the Iran-backed Houthis have fired drones and missiles at ships passing near its territory in the Red Sea, framing the attacks as an act of solidary with Gaza.

In recent months, the Houthis have claimed to have targeted Eilat several times, with sirens wailing in the city as Israeli air defense systems shot down the projectiles.

But at around 11 p.m. on Monday evening, a cruise missile fired by the Houthis fell in a desert nature reserve on the outskirts of the city, marking the first time that an attack from Yemen successfully penetrated Israeli airspace.

Security footage from a hiking trail circulating on social media showed a large explosion, with the impact sending pillars of smoke and flames into the air, and causing the camera to shake.

The IDF confirmed in a statement that the missile had exploded, but there were no reports of injuries or damage. The army said it was investigating why the projectile had not been intercepted.

Notably, the army did not make the breach of Israeli airspace public until two days later, on Wednesday evening.

Up until then, security forces had only said that a “suspicious aerial object” had been detected near Eilat.

The threat of Houthi missile attacks against Eilat have seriously disrupted traffic at the city’s port, creating major economic obstacles around its continued operation.

Before the war began, “we had between 12 and 13 ships coming and going” on a monthly basis, Port of Eilat CEO Gideon Golber told The Media Line.

“Now, we have zero.”