The Houthis fired a surface-to-surface missile which reached Israel at 6:32 a.m. local time on Sunday, setting off sirens around Tel Aviv but caused no damage as it exploded in the square.
The missile was detected during Army Radio's morning newscast, startling the announcer. Initially, it was unclear whether the sirens were due to a rocket fired from the south (Hamas) or the north (Hezbollah), but then reports said the missile had entered Israeli airspace from the east, sparking speculation that it may have been fired by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. The missile was later confirmed to have been launched by Iranian-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels, who had made a circuitous route into Israel from an unexpected direction.
According to Army Radio, the missile was very large and entered Israeli airspace at a low altitude, making it difficult to hit, and was capable of carrying hundreds of kilograms of explosives.
It was unclear whether Israel's Arrow missile defense system shot down the missile. Army Radio reported that the Iron Dome system, which is designed to deal with smaller, shorter-range rockets, was deployed to shoot down missile fragments and shrapnel.
Israel attacked the Houthis in July after a drone launched from Yemen reached Tel Aviv unintercepted.
update: Israeli media reported that the Arrow system intercepted the missile, but there are concerns that it may not have been intercepted outside Israeli airspace. “An IDF intelligence source confirmed that the Arrow 3 defense system likely missed the missile outside Israeli airspace, and that the Arrow 2 system shot it down over Israeli airspace on a second attempt,” the report said. Jerusalem Post ReportedFive Israelis were injured during the evacuation.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday It airs Sundays from 7:00pm-10:00pm ET (4:00pm-7:00pm PT) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of the following books: Agenda: What President Trump Should Do in His First 100 Daysavailable for pre-order on Amazon. He also Trumpian virtue: The lessons and legacy of Donald Trump's presidencyavailable now on Audible. He is the recipient of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
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