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IDF intercepts missile headed for Eilat

The army said that there was no infiltration into Israeli airspace.

An aerial view of the Gulf of Eilat, the northern tip of the Red Sea and the southernmost point in Israel. The Jordanian mountains of Edom are in the background. Eilat, Dec 5, 2019. Photo by Ehud Amiton/TPS.
An aerial view of the Gulf of Eilat, the northern tip of the Red Sea and the southernmost point in Israel. The Jordanian mountains of Edom are in the background. Eilat, Dec 5, 2019. Photo by Ehud Amiton/TPS.

The Israel Defense Forces successfully shot down a missile headed for Eilat on Tuesday evening, triggering sirens in the Red Sea resort town.

The IDF’s Arrow air-defense system intercepted the missile in the “Red Sea area” and it did not cross into Israeli territory, the military said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the IDF launched an air-defense missile at an “aerial target,” also setting off alarms in Eilat.

No infiltration of Israeli airspace occurred during the incident, according to the military.

Iran-backed terrorist groups in Syria and Yemen have attacked Israel’s southernmost city several times in recent weeks.

On Thursday, a drone launched by a terrorist group based in Syria hit an elementary school in the city, injuring one person.

The same day, Houthi rebels in Yemen launched a ballistic missile at Eilat, which was intercepted by Israel’s Arrow 3 in the defense system’s first operational use.

Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that “the target did not cross into Israeli territory.”

Later on Thursday evening, a Patriot missile interceptor battery in the south intercepted another “suspicious target” before it crossed into Israeli territory, the IDF said.

In a statement posted to X, a Houthi military spokesman subsequently announced the Iranian-backed terror group had “launched a batch of ballistic missiles at various sensitive targets of the Israeli entity… including military targets in the Umm al-Rashrash area [Eilat].”

Last month, Hamas terrorists in Gaza fired long-range rockets at Haifa and Eilat.

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