Israel investigates failure to intercept Houthi attack

The Israeli Air Force is investigating failures to intercept a ballistic missile attack carried out by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, which injured 16 people in Tel Aviv this Saturday (21).

According to information from The Times of Israel, a preliminary investigation showed that several types of interceptor missiles were launched at the projectile fired by the terrorists, but were unable to intercept it. The missile hit a park in Tel Aviv, causing damage to nearby homes and injuring 16 people.

However, in a message on X, one of the Houthi leaders, Hezam al-Asad, claimed that Israel was trying to hide that the damage was much greater. “The failure of all Israeli defense systems means that the heart of the Zionist enemy is no longer safe,” he said.

“The enemy is trying to minimize its press losses to maintain its military position and the morale of its settlers (in the West Bank). It portrays the areas where the interceptor missiles fell as targets hit by (our) missiles,” Asad said.

Israel’s admission that its defense systems have failed causes concern at a time of escalating hostilities with the Iranian-backed rebels.

From the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, in October 2023, the Houthis began attacking Israeli and allied vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and then began directly bombing Israeli territory.

Israel has been responding to these attacks: on Thursday (19), it carried out air strikes against the capital of Yemen, Sanaa, controlled by the Houthis, and the port city of Hodeida, in retaliation for the firing of a missile, which was intercepted, but whose debris hit a school in Ramat Gan, in central Israel. There were no injuries in this Houthi attack.