Yemen missile blitz rattles Tel Aviv
Yemen missile blitz rattles Tel Aviv
TEHRAN – Just two days after Israeli warplanes launched widespread deadly airstrikes on Yemen, the Ansarallah-led government followed through on its pledge to escalate its attacks on the Israeli regime in solidarity with Gaza.
Israeli media reported that a missile launched from Yemen struck Tel Aviv, causing significant damage and leading to dozens of Israelis being injured.
Despite the sounding of sirens across areas from Tel Aviv to northern Ashdod, the Yemeni missile evaded both the Israeli Iron Dome and David’s Sling interceptor missiles.
Footage circulating online shows the moment of the missile’s impact in the Tel Aviv area. Sirens can be heard and at least three interceptor missiles can be seen failing to shoot down the incoming Yemeni hypersonic missile. The sound of a huge explosion is also heard.
Israeli occupation police have confirmed the missile’s impact and the damage caused in Tel Aviv.
Palestinian resistance groups congratulate “heroic people of Yemen” for operation against “the Zionist entity” The spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced on Saturday an Israeli military target in occupied Jaffa (Tel Aviv) was struck with a hypersonic missile named Palestine 2.
The Yemeni Forces clarified that the operation came as part of the fifth phase of support in the “Promised Conquest” battle.
It was conducted in response to Israeli aggression against Yemen, in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people and their fighters, and as retaliation for the massacres against civilians in Gaza.
They confirmed that the missile accurately hit its target and that the defensive and interception systems failed to counter it.
The statement added, “Through this qualitative operation, the Yemeni Armed Forces salute all members of our great Yemeni people who have taken to the squares and arenas, affirming their confrontation and defiance of the criminal Israeli enemy.”
Israeli analysts say Israeli forces and intelligence agencies were slow to respond to the Yemeni threatThey also extended greetings to the fighters in Gaza and praised their ongoing heroic operations against the Israeli occupation.
The Armed Forces reiterated their commitment, stating, “Our operations will not cease until the aggression on Gaza stops and the blockade is lifted.”
The announcement, made by Brigadier General Saree, comes as the Israeli occupation army admitted on Saturday that its air defenses had failed to intercept a missile launched from Yemen.
On the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Telegram channel, a statement said, “A missile was fired from Yemen into central Israel, and a fallen projectile was identified in the Tel Aviv-Yafo area. The (IOF) Home Front Command teams and additional rescue forces were dispatched to the scene and began searching the area along with additional security forces, local officials, and emergency services to investigate the scene of the fallen projectile.”
The Israeli regime announced that it has opened an investigation into the attack.
The missile reportedly injured around 30 Israelis, according to the Israeli authority’s admission.
Official Israeli Radio said, “The army is investigating the reason for the failure to intercept the Yemeni missile that exploded in Tel Aviv and left 30 injured.”
A reporter with the Israeli Army Radio noted, “The Air Force continues to investigate and analyze the events surrounding the ballistic missile attack on Tel Aviv. Preliminary investigations show that there was an attempt to intercept the threat using several different air defense systems. First, an Arrow intercept missile was launched in an attempt to intercept the missile during its trajectory outside the atmosphere. After this attempt failed, Iron Dome intercept missiles were activated to collide with the missile during its flight inside the airspace. Unfortunately, all interception attempts failed.”
Hamas: “We highly appreciate the steadfast Yemeni support for our people in Gaza facing genocide” The Maariv Hebrew newspaper reported, “There have been advancements in ballistic missiles, which now surpass the capabilities of the Arrow|Hetz air defense system. Unfortunately, this flagship air defense project has failed four consecutive times to successfully intercept ballistic missiles—three times from Yemen and once from Lebanon.”
Furthermore, Avi Ashkenazi, a journalist with Maariv, said that “Israel finds itself unable to address the challenges posed by the Houthis from Yemen and has failed in confronting them.”
Ashkenazi underlined that “Israel realized the danger of the threat emerging from the east too late and the Israeli army struggles to handle Yemeni threats, both defensively and offensively.”
He further emphasizes that "the Houthis in Yemen have significantly impacted the regional and Israeli economy for over a year. Recent Israeli airstrikes against the Houthis were more of a show, causing little military damage or achieving the desired deterrence.”
On Thursday, The leader of the Ansarallah movement, Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, reaffirmed Yemen’s steadfast support for Palestine, emphasizing that it remains unwavering and impactful in “causing pain to the enemies and doubling their losses.”
He stated that "since the beginning of support for the Palestinian people, the Yemeni Armed Forces have launched 1,147 ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, in addition to targeting 211 enemy-linked ships.”
Sayyed al-Houthi noted that “Israeli aggression against our country will never deter us from our supportive stance toward the Palestinian people and their fighters in Gaza.”
He emphasized that "the Israeli aggression on our country will not affect the level of escalation we are pursuing as part of the fifth phase of escalation and support for the Palestinian people.”
The Sana'a government has been firing drones and missiles against Israeli targets since November last year in solidarity with Gaza, which has faced a U.S.-backed genocidal war by Israel.
source: tehrantimes.com