The Israel Defense Forces shot down a “suspicious aerial target” heading for the Jewish state over the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday afternoon. The threat was neutralized before entering Israeli territory and no air-raid sirens were activated, the military said.
The incident likely involved a suicide drone launched by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists. The “target” was said to have been downed by the Air Force off the coast of Tel Aviv.
Israeli Air Force fighter jets attacked Houthi targets in Yemen overnight Wednesday, after intercepting a missile the enemy fired at central Israel.
An elementary school in the Ramat Efal neighborhood of Ramat Gan, a city just east of Tel Aviv, suffered severe damage when shrapnel hit it following the interception. According to the city’s mayor, the impact caused a partial collapse of the school’s central building, prompting the cancellation of classes. No injuries were reported in the Houthi attack.
Missile interception fragments were also found on the grounds of the Knesset in Jerusalem.
According to the IDF, the IAF retaliatory strikes were carried out in two waves by 14 fighter jets, refuelers and spy planes. The jets were already en route when the Houthis fired the missile around 2:35 a.m.
Following the attacks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Houthis and its Iranian backers “are learning—and will learn the hard way—that whoever harms Israel will pay a very heavy price for it.
“Last night, they attacked a school in Ramat Gan,” the Israeli leader said in the remarks published by the Prime Minister’s Office, adding that “they are not only attacking us—they are attacking the entire world.
“They are attacking international shipping and trade routes. Therefore, when Israel acts against the Houthis, it operates on behalf of the entire international community,” Netanyahu said. “The Americans understand this well, and so do many others.
“After Hamas, Hezbollah and the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis are almost the last remaining arm of Iran’s evil axis. They are learning—and they will learn the hard way—that whoever harms Israel pays a very heavy price for it,” the prime minister said.
