Houthi ballistic missile intercepted; sirens wail in central Israel

Houthi official threatens in Hebrew tweet that “more surprises are on the way.”

By World Israel News Staff

A Houthi-launched ballistic missile triggered sirens throughout central Israel late Monday evening, sending millions of Israelis into bomb shelters for the fifth time in a week.

The launch followed two days of quiet after the Houthis ramped up their launches of explosive drones and missiles in mid-Decemeber.

Air raid alarms sounded in the Tel Aviv area, Jerusalem suburbs, and southern Israel. Flight departures and arrivals at Ben Gurion Airport were suspended for approximately 30 minutes following the sirens.

The missile was intercepted by Israel’s air defenses, which were recently bolstered by the American THAAD interception system.

An 18-year-old woman in Yavne was struck by a vehicle as she sought shelter during the sirens. She was transported to a local hospital in good condition.

A number of people were lightly injured while running to shelters, the Magen David Adom emergency response organization said in a media statement.

“The battering of [Israel] continues and the support to Gaza continues,” Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, the head of the Houthis’ supreme revolutionary committee, wrote in an X post shortly after the launch.

In a Hebrew-language tweet published some two hours after the attack, Houthi official Hazam al-Assad threatened that “more surprises are on the way.”

IDF sappers responded to reports of fallen shrapnel and other debris from the interception in Yavne, Beit Shemesh, and Harish. In Beit Shemesh, a large crowd gathered at the scene where a large metal fragment impacted a road.

“I was home in my apartment, running to the shelter as soon as I heard the siren with my wife, my mother-in-law and my baby,” Aaron Heideman, who is visiting from the U.S., told the Times of Israel.

“It’s crazy to see with my own eyes that this is real; this is serious. I always have faith in God, so I’m not scared, but it is surreal,” he added.