UPDATE – Netanyahu vows ‘heavy price’ after Houthi missile attack on Israel

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Zein Khalil and Khaled Yousef

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Sunday to “exact a heavy price” on the Houthi group in Yemen after a rocket attack that injured nine people in Tel Aviv.

"This morning, the Houthis launched a surface-to-surface missile from Yemen into our territory. They should have known by now that we charge a heavy price for any attempt to harm us," Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting as cited by a statement from his office.

"Those who need a reminder in this matter are invited to visit the port of Al Hudaydah," he added, referring to the western Yemeni city that Israeli warplanes bombed in July after a Houthi drone attack killed one Israeli in Tel Aviv.

The Houthi missile landed in an open area near Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday morning despite Israeli attempts to intercept it.

According to the Israeli army and local media, nine Israelis were injured while rushing to shelters, and fires broke out in wooded areas due to falling missile debris. A fire also ignited at a major cement factory during the incident.

Preliminary data from an Air Force investigation showed that the missile was intercepted by the air defense systems, “causing it to disintegrate without completely destroying it,” Israeli Channel 12 reported.

According to the broadcaster, more than one interceptor missiles were launched to shoot down the Houthi missile, but the interception was not fully successful as expected.

The channel said the military is investigating whether a technical malfunction in the Israeli air defense system prevented the complete destruction of the Houthi missile.

The Houthi rebels in Yemen have been targeting ships that are Israeli-owned, flagged, operated, or headed to Israeli ports in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones in solidarity with Gaza, which has been under a devastating Israeli onslaught since Oct. 7.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi and Rania Abu Shamala