The Houthi ballistic missile that landed in an open area at Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport on Sunday morning was most likely not intercepted due to a technical malfunction, according to an initial inquiry by the commander of the Israeli Air Force.
The investigation found no faults in the missile detection systems, interception protocols, or IDF Home Front Command alert mechanisms. The interceptor failure is believed to be an isolated technical issue.
The IAF noted that since the beginning of the war, it has intercepted dozens of missiles launched from Yemen, achieving a success rate of over 95%.
The moment of impact near Ben Gurion Airport pic.twitter.com/thKRiWUSjw
— Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) May 4, 2025
The missile strike on Sunday lightly to moderately wounded six people and caused significant disruptions to takeoffs and arrivals at Ben-Gurion Airport. The attack triggered air-raid sirens across central Israel, including in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and the Shfela/Judaean Foothills.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid Party told JNS at the Knesset in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon that while the “misfortunate breach of Israel’s defenses” shouldn’t have happened, the Houthi strike “doesn’t come to tell you that we are incapable of defending ourselves.
“I’m calling upon all the international airlines to bring back the flights over to Israel,” he said about ongoing cancellations of flights at Ben-Gurion Airport. “Israel is a safe place; we are more than capable of protecting everybody who wants to land or take off from Israel.”
In a statement on Sunday afternoon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a forceful response. “There will be blows,” he warned. “We are acting against them. We have acted in the past, and we will act in the future. I cannot detail everything,” he said, noting that the United States is also targeting Houthi forces.
Defense Minister Israel Katz echoed the warning, saying, “Whoever harms us, we’ll harm them sevenfold.”
The attack marks the latest escalation by the Houthi terrorist organization, which has launched a series of long-range ballistic missiles and drones at Israel in recent months, targeting ports, military installations, and now the country’s main international airport.
