A massive crater was left just outside an airport in Israel after a ballistic missile, fired by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, struck near the country’s busiest air hub, Ben Gurion International Airport, early Sunday.
The impact site, located next to an access road near Terminal 3, carved out a crater reportedly 25 metres wide and several metres deep, less than a kilometre from the runway. The explosion did not damage any terminal buildings or runways, though it caused alarm in the area and forced a temporary suspension of airport operations.
The Israeli military said it made several attempts to intercept the missile but admitted uncertainty over whether the crater was caused by the missile itself or fragments from the defence systems. The Houthi rebels later claimed responsibility, saying they had launched a hypersonic ballistic missile in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded with a warning. “We have acted against them in the past and we will act in the future, but I cannot go into detail (…) it will not happen in one bang, but there will be many bangs,” he said in a video posted on Telegram, according to AFP.
The attack sparked travel disruptions as well. An Air India flight (AI139) from Delhi to Tel Aviv was diverted to Abu Dhabi as a precaution. The Boeing 787 was reportedly just an hour away from landing when the strike occurred. Additionally, Lufthansa Airlines announced the suspension of all flights to Tel Aviv until 6 May in response to the incident.