A ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels towards Israel on Sunday landed just 75 meters from Terminal 3 of Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv– the country’s biggest international airport. The missile reportedly bypassed four layers of air defence and hit a grove adjacent to an access road within the airport’s perimeter–one of the country’s most sensitive zones– creating a 25-meter deep crater.
Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said their several attempts to intercept the missile failed before it landed near the airport, sending a plume of smoke into the air. However, a direct hit on terminal infrastructure was averted, yet it caused panic among passengers in the terminal building.
At least eight people were injured in the attack, Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency service, said.
The military released a video of the aftermath of the strike showing officers standing at the edge of a crater in an orchard, with the airport’s control tower visible in the distance.
🚨 The crater that opened in the orchard near Ben Gurion Airport – following the middle hit https://t.co/zyNL7QxESA pic.twitter.com/3jM7E3EPqk
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) May 4, 2025
Yair Hezroni, the police’s central district chief, can be heard saying in the video that “you can see the area just behind us: a crater was formed here, several dozen metres (yards) wide and several dozen metres deep”.
Meanwhile, authorities have also launched a full-scale investigation into the breach of Israel’s air defence and the missile’s impact site near one of the country’s most sensitive zones.
The Houthi missile hit just 75 meters from Terminal 3 at Ben Gurion Airport, narrowly avoiding a direct strike that could have triggered a full-scale war.
This needs a powerful response. pic.twitter.com/ySGvEmnshN
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) May 4, 2025
Israel has an elaborate system of air defences to counter missiles and drones. Known as Iron Dome, the system is designed to intercept short-range rockets, as well as shells and mortars, at ranges of between 4km and 70km from the missile launcher.
Following the missile strike, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz issued a stark warning: “Whoever harms us, we will strike them sevenfold.”
So far, Israel has refrained from launching retaliatory strikes on Yemen despite a series of Houthi attacks, as the United States leads a broader military campaign against the Iran-backed group.
Houthi leaders hailed the attack as a demonstration of their long-range strike capability.
Senior Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti told Al-Araby TV that his group has “no red lines” in its confrontation with Israel and emphasised their ability to hit sensitive Israeli targets, The Times of Israel reported.
Additionally, Houthi media chief Nasser al-Din Omar issued a warning to international airlines against flying to or from Israel, claiming such operations jeopardised aircraft safety.
