JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL

Israel’s main airport temporarily halted flight operations on Monday following a missile strike from Yemen, local media said.

Israel’s public broadcaster KAN said air traffic at Ben Gurion Airport was temporarily suspended, with the takeoff and landing of several flights delayed, including flights by El Al, Israir, and Arkia airlines.

A military statement said that air defenses intercepted a missile launched from Yemen.

The missile triggered air-raid sirens in several areas, including the Greater Tel Aviv area and the Southern Coastal Plain, which are inhabited by millions of Israelis, KAN said.

Yemen’s Houthi group confirmed the attack, saying it struck several sensitive targets with a hypersonic ballistic missile with multiple warheads.

The group said two vital Israeli targets were also hit by two drones in the southern city of Eilat.

Monday’s attack came three days after Israel launched airstrikes on Houthi sites in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, killing at least eight people and injuring more than 140 others.

The Houthis and Israel have exchanged attacks in the past months amid rising tension over Tel Aviv’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, where more than 66,000 people have been killed since October 2023.