Travelers are waiting near their luggage outside the Ben -Gurion airport in Israel on May 4, 2025 (AFP / Jack Guez)
A missile fell on Tel Aviv International Airport on Sunday after a shot from Yemen, causing a brief interruption of air traffic and threats to Israeli reprisals.
The shot was claimed by the Houthis rebels of Yemen, who said in a press release “having targeted Ben Gurion airport with a hypersonic ballistic missile that has successfully reached its target”.
According to an AFP photographer on site, the missile fell into an area planted with trees next to an access ramp for the parking lots of Terminal 3, the most important of the airport, less than a kilometer from the tarmac.
But according to Israeli media, the police are still trying to determine whether the impact of missile “near the airport was caused by the Yemeni missile or by an Israeli counter-missile.
Allies of the Palestinian Islamist Movement Hamas, the Houthis have claimed dozens of missiles and drones against Israel, including shots towards the airport, since the war in Gaza. Almost all of the shots were intercepted.
Sunday morning, alert sirens sounded in several regions of Israel where the anti-aircraft defenses tried to intercept the missile from Yemen according to the army.
A strong detonation, followed by a very powerful reverberation, were heard around 9:35 am (6:35 am GMT) inside Terminal 3, noted an AFP journalist. The security staff immediately asked hundreds of passengers to go to the shelters.
Strong detonations were also heard in Jerusalem and the surrounding area.
The emergency services announced that they had taken care of at least six injured, in “light” or “moderate” states, without further details.
– “Life stops” –
Security services are inspected a crater after the fall of a missile in an area planted with trees next to an access ramp for the parking lots of Tel Aviv airport, on May 4, 2025 (AFP / Jack Guez)
“You can see the area just behind us: a crater has been formed there, several tens of meters and also deep by several tens of meters,” said police chief in the center of Israel, Yaïr Hezroni, in a video with the airport control tower in the background.
Airport authorities announced in a statement the resumption of air traffic after a brief interruption. “Takeoffs and landings have taken up normally. Ben Gurion airport is open and operational.”
Some flights have been canceled and other confused, including an Air India flight in approach that set sail to Abu Dhabi, according to an airport official.
“This is crazy to say, but since October 7, we are accustomed to that,” a passenger at AFP told AFP at the airport, alluding to the unprecedented attack in Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza.
Israeli emergency services released an access route to Tel Aviv Airport on May 4, 2025 (AFP / Jack Guez)
“A missile can fall anytime and life stops for a while. There was panic at the airport and I myself was frightened because the explosion was strong. But it’s okay now, I’m trying to find another flight,” she added under the cover of anonymity.
– “Seven times stronger” –
Travelers are heading with their luggage to Ben-Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, May 4, 2025 (AFP / Jack Guez)
Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened to fight back to this shot. “The one who strikes us will be struck seven times harder”. Israel has already carried out several attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen.
The Houthis claimed several Saturday and Saturday missile fire on Israel, the Israeli army of which announced the interception.
These rebels control large sides of Yemen at war, including the capital Sanaa, more than 1,800 km from the southern border of Israel.
Since the start of the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, the Houthis have announced attacks on Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians. They also targeted ships which they consider linked to Israel in the Red Sea, an essential area for world maritime traffic.
After a two -month suspension, the Houthis resumed the attacks on Israel with the resumption of the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip on March 18.
The United States, under the presidency of Joe Biden, began in January 2024 to strike the positions of the Houthis to force them to stop their shots. The campaign intensified after Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January.
The Pentagon said at the end of April to have struck more than 1,000 targets in Yemen since March 15, “killing Houthi fighters and leaders”.
