A rocket fired by Yemeni rebels lands in Israel and sets off sirens at the international airport

JERUSALEM (AP) — A rocket fired by Iran-backed rebels in Yemen landed in an open field in central Israel early Sunday, setting off air raid sirens at the country's international airport, the latest reverberation of the nearly year-long war in Gaza.

There were no reports of casualties or major damage, but Israeli media showed footage of people running to emergency shelters at Ben Gurion International Airport. The airport authority said it resumed normal operations shortly afterward.

Fire was seen in a rural area in central Israel, and local media showed images of a fragment of a rocket or interceptor landing on an escalator at a train station in the central Israeli city of Modiin. The military said the sounds of explosions in the area came from interceptors.

Yemeni rebels known as the Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and rockets towards Israel since the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas began, but almost all of these attacks have been intercepted over the Red Sea.

Brigadier General Yahya Saree, a rebel military spokesman, said they fired a ballistic missile at “a military target” in Jaffa, a district of Tel Aviv.

A police officer inspects the area around a fire after the military said it fired interceptors at a rocket fired from Yemen that landed in central Israel, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Ohad Zwigenberg

Hashim Sharaf al-Din, a spokesman for the Houthi government, said Yemenis were celebrating the birthday of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, while “Israelis have to stay in shelters.” Another senior Houthi official, Hezam al-Asad, posted a mocking message in Hebrew on the social platform X.

In July, an Iranian-made drone launched by the Houthis attacked Tel Aviv, killing one person and wounding ten others. Israel responded with a wave of airstrikes on Houthis-controlled areas in Yemen.

The Houthis have also repeatedly attacked commercial vessels in the Red Sea, which the rebels portray as a blockade of Israel in support of the Palestinians. Most of the ships attacked have no connection to Israel.

The war in Gaza, which began with Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel, has spread throughout the region. Iran and its militant groups have attacked Israeli and American targets, prompting retaliatory strikes by Israel and its Western allies. On several occasions, the attacks and counterattacks have threatened to spark a larger conflict.

Since the war began, international airlines have repeatedly cancelled flights to and from Israel, further increasing the economic burden of the war on the country.

Iran supports militant groups across the region, including Hamas, the Houthis and Lebanon's Hezbollah, its most powerful ally, which has skirmished with Israel almost daily since the Gaza war began. Iran and its allies say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.

The military said about 40 missiles were fired from Lebanon early Sunday. Most were intercepted or landed in open areas.

The attacks along the Israeli-Lebanese border have displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides, and Israel has repeatedly threatened to launch a broader military operation against Hezbollah to ensure its citizens can return to their homes.

Hezbollah has said it will stop its attacks if a ceasefire is reached in Gaza. The United States and Arab mediators Egypt and Qatar have spent much of this year trying to negotiate a ceasefire and the release of scores of hostages held by Hamas, but talks have repeatedly stalled.

In recent weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted on permanent Israeli control over the Gaza side of the border with Egypt, which Israeli forces captured in May. He said Hamas uses a network of tunnels under the border to import weapons. Egypt, which like Hamas opposes a permanent Israeli presence there, denies these allegations.

An Israeli military official said late Saturday that of the dozens of tunnels discovered along the border, only nine led into Egypt and all were sealed. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss classified information, said it was not clear when the tunnels were sealed.

The discovery appears to weaken Netanyahu's argument that Israel must maintain control over the corridor indefinitely to prevent cross-border smuggling.

Egypt said it sealed off the tunnels on its side of the border years ago, including by creating its own military buffer zone along the border.

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Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel. Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed.

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