Yemen's Houthis announced on Sunday said they targeted Ben Gurion Airport with an Iranian Zolfaghar missile, as Israel's military denied the missile reaching Israeli territory, saying it was intercepted before impact.
"We targeted Ben Gurion Airport in the occupied Jaffa area with a Zolfaghar ballistic missile, and this operation was successfully carried out with God’s blessing," Yahya Saree, the spokesman for the Houthis said Sunday in a statement.
The Israeli military disputed the Houthi claim, saying, "Following sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the IAF prior to crossing into Israeli territory. Sirens were sounded in accordance with protocol."
The Zolfaghar missile is an Iranian short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) developed as an enhanced version of the Fateh-110 missile system. It was first unveiled during a military parade in September 2016 and entered service in 2017.
Shortly after IDF made the announcement, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Israel should respond to Houthi attacks by targeting Iran directly, arguing Tehran finances and controls the Yemeni group.
"It is Iran that finances, arms, trains, and operates the Houthis. Iran has a lot to lose; the Houthis have much less. Therefore, Israel must levy a high price on Iran. Only in this way will Iran understand," he said on X.
This comes as US President Donald Trump, less than a fortnight ago, warned that Iran will bear brunt of any Houthi attack.
"Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
In January last year, US forces intercepted a shipment carrying military aid from Iran to the Houthis, including drone parts, missile warheads, and anti-tank missile units.
Writing for The Council on Foreign Relations, Kali Robinson said that, "For the Houthis, the Iran connection provides more sophisticated weaponry than they could acquire on their own, especially missiles and drones.
"Iranian support has bolstered the group’s fighting abilities, helping the Houthis gain and maintain military superiority within Yemen, but experts say it has had greater impact elsewhere."
