JERUSALEM/ANKARA

Israeli authorities suspended all flights at Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday after a missile launched from Yemen struck near the facility.

Israel’s emergency service, Magen David Adom, reported that “several people sustained minor injuries due to a missile falling near Terminal 3 at Ben Gurion Airport,” without providing further details.

The strike occurred following multiple air raid sirens in various regions of Israel and several unsuccessful attempts to intercept the projectile, according to the Israeli army.

Security sources told Army Radio that both Israel’s Arrow system and the US-made THAAD system attempted to intercept the missile but failed.

According to Channel 13, the military has launched an internal probe into the failure of the air defense systems to intercept the missile.

Flight operations at Ben Gurion Airport were halted with several planes circling in the air unable to land, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

“This is the first missile we failed to intercept since combat resumed in Gaza,” an unnamed security source told Channel 12.

Yemen’s Houthi group confirmed the attack stating that it’s a “warning” for international airlines.

This marked the third such missile launch in two days following earlier Houthi claims of targeting Ramat David Airbase and the Tel Aviv region.

Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz blamed Tehran for the missile attack.

“Iran is launching ballistic missiles at the State of Israel and it must be held accountable,” he said in a statement, calling for a “sharp response in Tehran.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz told Channel 12, “Whoever harms us, we will harm (them) many times over.”

The Houthis have targeted ships passing through the Red and Arabian seas, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden since November 2023 in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where nearly 52,500 people have been killed in a brutal Israeli assault for more than 19 months.

The group halted attacks when a Gaza ceasefire was declared in January between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas but resumed them after Israel's renewed airstrikes on Gaza in March.