ANKARA

Yemen’s Houthi group said on Sunday that they had launched a hypersonic ballistic missile targeting Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, warning international airlines that the Israeli airport is “unsafe for civilian aviation.”

In a televised statement, the group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, stated that the missile successfully struck its intended target, adding that another "vital target" in the coastal city of Ashkelon was also hit.

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli authorities suspended all flights at Ben Gurion Airport 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.

Israeli media said that six international airlines suspended their flights to Tel Aviv following the Houthi attack.

According to Israeli Channel 13, Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines, Air India, ITA Airways, and Air Europa canceled scheduled flights to Tel Aviv.

An Air India flight en route to Israel turned back to New Delhi while flying over Jordan, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

Meanwhile, a British Airways flight departing from London was delayed for two hours amid uncertainty over whether it would proceed to Tel Aviv.

Israeli media also reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to hold a high-level security meeting Sunday afternoon to discuss potential responses to the Houthi attack.

“After a missile landed at Ben Gurion Airport, we no longer have any restrictions. Israel will respond forcefully to the Houthis. We have the right to respond, and nothing will restrain us,” said the public broadcaster KAN, citing an unnamed security source.

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

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

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.