Ramat Gan school severely damaged during Houthi missile attack

An elementary school in the Ramat Efal neighborhood of Ramat Gan, just east of Tel Aviv, was severely damaged by a Houthi missile attack overnight Wednesday.

According to the city’s mayor, the impact caused a partial collapse of the school’s central building, prompting the cancellation of classes for the day. No injuries were reported.

Following an initial investigation into the impact, the Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday afternoon that “it is likely that the damage was caused by partial interception of the missile launched from Yemen and that the missile warhead was the part that exploded and damaged the school.”

The IDF further stated that the Israeli Air Force and Home Front Command are conducting a more in-depth probe, which the findings will be made available to the public when complete.

According to preliminary assessments, interceptor shrapnel hit the building. Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kisch, who visited the scene of the incident on Thursday morning, claimed that a missile warhead had hit the school, according to Channel 12 News.

The IDF also said that security forces were looking into damage caused by falling shrapnel in additional areas.

Missile interception fragments were found on the grounds of Israel’s parliament complex, the Knesset, in the capital Jerusalem, according to the legislative body.

Guards located the debris during a routine search of the area. There were no injuries or damage from the impact and the pieces were removed by police sappers.

No air-raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem during the attack, which was also the case in Modi’in, a city located roughly halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where its mayor said on Thursday that shrapnel from the missile interception impacted in two places, causing minor damage.

No injuries reported in the Modi’in incident and Mayor Haim Bibas was said to have asked the IDF Home Front Command why no air-raid alerts were heard.

The Houthis said they fired two ballistic missiles at central Israel.

Following the interception, the Israeli Air Force attacked Houthi targets in Yemen.