IDF investigates if Houthis used Iranian cluster munitions in Israel strike

Interceptors missed the Friday missile several times before it went down.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The IDF has opened an investigation into whether the Houthis used Iranian cluster munitions in the missile their Yemeni proxy fired at Israel on Friday night.

Initial army reports stated that the missile had disintegrated in midair, but several interceptors launched to shoot down the fragments failed.

These included Israel’s Arrow, which is used for hitting targets outside the atmosphere; David’s Sling and Iron Dome, which intercept missiles closer to the ground; and the American THAAD, designed to destroy short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their terminal phase.

Whether it was shrapnel from the larger missile or bomblets released in midair, debris damaged a home in Ginaton, near Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel’s main air hub.

Eighty-five-year-old Ilana Hatoumi told Ynet: “I was sitting in the shelter, I heard a boom, everything exploded — and that was it.”

“The windows shattered,” she added. “We’re fine. I’m healthy. Nothing happened that can’t be fixed. It’s just property damage.”

Her daughter said she was grateful Hatoumi had entered the safe room when the warning siren sounded in central and southern Israel before the missile landed around 6:30 p.m.

“The whole house shook,” the daughter said, but her mother was “fine,” although “a bit shaken.”

The airport briefly halted operations during the incident, but there were no significant delays in either takeoffs or landings.

According to one Houthi spokesman, the Iranian proxy launched a “Palestine 2 hypersonic ballistic missile” at Israel.

The Houthis claim the missile contains stealth technology to evade radar and other detection methods, and can reach speeds of up to Mach 16, or 16 times the speed of sound.

Unable to manufacture such advanced weapons, the Houthis rely on Iran to smuggle them into Yemen so they can form another front against Israel while Tehran maintains a façade of innocence.

Senior Houthi official Nasruddin Amer released a video — authenticity unconfirmed — that he said showed the projectile “splitting into several missiles over Israeli skies.”

He also said the missile had outmaneuvered Israel’s defense array and “reached its target, disproving enemy claims of interception.”

The clip showed several smaller lights appearing to break off from one larger light in the night sky.

During the 12-day Operation Rising Lion in June, Iran fired several cluster munitions at Israel, each dispersing a dozen or more small bomblets instead of striking a single target with one warhead.