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Moments before the impact, air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and central Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would pay a heavy price for the Iran-linked Houthi rebels who control northern Yemen, as they arrived in central Israel for the first time on Sunday with missiles.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saria said the group launched the attack with a new hypersonic ballistic missile that traveled 2,040 kilometers (1,270 miles) in just 11 1/2 minutes.
After initially saying the missile had landed in an open area, Israel’s military later said it had likely scattered in the air, and that pieces of interceptors fell near fields and a railway station. No injuries were reported.
Air raid sirens went off in Tel Aviv and central Israel moments before the impact at 6:35 a.m. local time (0335 GMT), prompting residents to flee for shelter. Loud voices were heard.
Reuters saw smoke rising from an open field in central Israel.
At the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said the Houthis should have known that attacks on Israel would pay a “heavy price”.
“Anyone who needs a reminder of this is invited to visit the port of Hodeidah,” Netanyahu said, referring to an Israeli retaliatory airstrike against Yemen for a Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv in July. “
The Houthis have repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Israel in a show of solidarity with the Palestinians since the Gaza war erupted after Hamas attacked Israel in October.
In July, drones first targeted Tel Aviv, killing one person and injuring four others. Six people were killed and 80 injured in Israeli airstrikes on Houthi rebel positions near the port of Hodeidah.
Previously, Houthi missiles had not penetrated deep into Israeli airspace, only reportedly hitting Israeli territory in March in an open area near the Red Sea port of Eilat.
Israel should expect more attacks in the future “as we approach the first anniversary of the October 7 operation, including responding to its offensive on the city of Hodeidah,” Saria said.
Nasreddin Amir, deputy head of the Houthis’ media office, said in a post on X on Sunday that the missile had reached Israel after “20 missiles failed to intercept it,” calling it “the beginning.”
The Israeli military also said 40 missiles were fired from Lebanon toward Israel on Sunday and were either intercepted or landed in open areas.
“No injuries were reported,” the military said.
(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
