Houthis fire ballistic missile at Israel, targeting a central army base

Interceptor fragments caused a fire in Beit Shemesh.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The Houthi terror organization in Yemen launched a ballistic missile at Israel’s central region Monday morning that was knocked out before reaching Israel’s coastline, the IDF announced.

As per Israeli safety guidelines, warning sirens still sounded at 5:55 AM over large sections of the Plains, Judea, and Lachish regions, sending hundreds of thousands of residents running to safe areas.

Fragments of an interceptor missile caused a fire in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Beit Shemesh, which the authorities quickly took care of. Locals spoke of a car and some bushes going up in flames.

“Simultaneously with the extinguishing operations,” the Jerusalem region fire service said in a statement, “the firefighters are carrying out additional scans in the area, in order to rule out additional fires and damage from interceptor/missile shrapnel.”

No one was injured in the incident.

The Iran-backed group claimed they were aiming for the Sorek army base, which is located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and about 20 kilometers from Beit Shemesh.

It is one of many of the army’s techno-logistical bases, an Ammunition and Missile Center where parts are stored and supplied to IDF units, soldiers are trained in their use, and work is done there to salvage damaged ammunition.

Both civilians and soldiers work at the base.

Turkish news agency Anadolu reported that the Houthis claimed their projectile was a “hypersonic” missile, with spokesman Yahya Saree saying that it had “precisely hit” its target.

Since the Israel-Hamas war began last October after the Gazan terrorists crashed through the border and murdered 1,200 people, the Houthis have shot more than 220 cruise and ballistic missiles and UAVs at the Jewish state to support their fellow Iranian proxy.

A very small minority have gotten through Israel’s air defenses, including one in September that was intercepted but not completely destroyed, resulting in missile and interceptor fragments causing some damage to a Modiin train station and a fire in an open area.

Israel has also targeted a vital Houthi-held port in Yemen and destroyed several military sites in two long-range airstrikes of its own.

The missile launch came a few hours after a Houthi TV outlet reported that the U.S. and Great Britain had conducted several airstrikes in Yemen.

Neither country acknowledged an attack, although the two have hit Houthi targets several times this year in retaliation for the terrorists’ repeated missile launches against cargo ships passing their country in international waters.

The Houthis’ stated motivation is to support its fellow Iranian client, Hamas, in its war against Israel.

Although they say they want to damage the country by stopping shipping to the Jewish state, they have mostly targeted cargoes that have nothing to do with Israel.

This has caused many companies to forego the shortest route to the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal, which has meant a tremendous loss of revenue for its owner, Egypt.