Missile fired by Yemen's rebels lands in Israel, triggers sirens at international airport

A missile fired by Yemens Iranbacked rebels landed in an open area in central Israel early Sunday and triggered air raid sirens at its international airport in the latest reverberation from the nearly yearlong war in Gaza Israel hinted that it would respond militarilyThere were no reports of casualties or major damage but Israeli media aired footage showing people racing to shelters in Ben Gurion International Airport The airport authority said that it resumed normal operations shortly thereafterA fire could be seen in a rural area of central Israel and local media showed images of what appeared to be a fragment from an interceptor that landed on an escalator in a train station in the central town of ModiinIsraels army said the surfacetosurface missile was intercepted by Israels defence system which hit and fragmented the target but did not destroy it The military said the sound of explosions in the area came from interceptorsThe Yemeni rebels known as Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and missiles toward Israel since the start of the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas but nearly all of them have been intercepted over the Red SeaIn July an Iranianmade drone launched by the Houthis struck Tel Aviv killing one person and wounding 10 others Israel responded with a wave of airstrikes on Houthiheld areas of Yemen including the port city of Hodeidah a Houthi strongholdIsrael indicates it will respond to attack Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at a similar response in remarks at a Cabinet meeting after Sundays attackldquoThe Houthis should have known by now that we exact a heavy price for any attempt to harm us he said ldquoAnyone who needs a reminder is invited to visit the port of Hodeidahrdquo Brig Gen Yahya Saree a military spokesman for the rebels said they fired a ballistic missile targeting ldquoa military targetrdquo in the area of Tel AvivThe Houthis have also repeatedly attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea in what the rebels portray as a blockade on Israel in support of the Palestinians Most of the targeted ships have no connection to IsraelThe war in Gaza which began with Hamas Oct 7 attack into southern Israel has rippled across the region with Iran and allied militant groups attacking Israeli and US targets and drawing retaliatory strikes from Israel and its Western allies On several occasions the strikes and counterstrikes have threatened to trigger a wider conflictIran supports militant groups across the region including Hamas the Houthis and Lebanons Hezbollah its most powerful ally which has traded fire with Israel on a neardaily basis since the war in Gaza began Iran and its allies say they are acting in solidarity with the PalestiniansIsrael says high probability its strike killed three hostages in Gaza On Sunday the Israeli military said there was a ldquohigh probabilityrdquo that three hostages found dead months ago were killed in an Israeli airstrikeThe army announced the conclusions of its investigation into the deaths of Cpl Nik Beizer Sgt Ron Sherman and Elia Toledano It said investigations had determined that the three were likely killed in a November airstrike that also killed a senior Hamas militant Ahmed GhandourAll three of the hostages were kidnapped in Hamas Oct 7 attack Their bodies were recovered in December but the cause of death was only recently determinedIn its report the army said there was a ldquohigh probabilityrdquo they were killed in the strike based on where the bodies were recovered pathological reports and other intelligence But it said ldquoit is not possible to definitely determine the circumstances of their deathsrdquo The conclusions could add pressure on the government to strike a deal to bring home the remaining hostages held by Hamas Critics say its too difficult and dangerous to try to rescue them Late last month Israel recovered the bodies of six hostages that it says were killed by Hamas captors shortly before Israeli forces arrivedThe armys announcement is the first time it has linked the deaths of hostages to airstrikes In other cases of bodies being recovered the army has said people were either killed on Oct 7 died in Hamas captivity or were killed by the militant groupIn December the army acknowledged mistakenly killing three hostages who had escaped Hamas captivity in a battletorn neighbourhood of Gaza City It was believed that the three had either fled their captors or been abandonedAround 250 hostages were taken on Oct 7 Israel now believes 101 remain in captivity including 35 who are thought to be dead More than 100 were freed during a ceasefire in November in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel Eight have been rescued by Israeli forcesAlso on Sunday an Israeli border police officer was stabbed near Jerusalems Damascus Gate and the attacker was shot and killed trying to escape said the police The stabbed officer wasnt severely injured and was evacuated for treatment Police secured the area and began an investigationRockets fired from Lebanon The military said that around 40 projectiles were fired from Lebanon early Sunday with most intercepted or falling in open areasIn a separate incident Israeli forces dropped leaflets over the Lebanese border town of alWazzani calling on residents to evacuate The military later said there were no such evacuation orders and that a local commander had acted without the approval of his superiors It said the incident was under investigationIt wasnt immediately clear if any message had been conveyed to residents that the leaflets were dropped in error Ahmad alMohammed the mayor of AlWazzani said most of the towns remaining residents had not heeded the evacuation orderThe strikes along the IsraelLebanon border have displaced tens of thousands of people on both sidesldquoThis requires a change in the balance of power on our northern border Netanyahu said at the Cabinet meeting We will do everything necessary to return our residents safely to their homesrdquo Gaza smuggling tunnels blocked Hezbollah has said it would halt its attacks if there is a ceasefire in Gaza The United States and Arab mediators Egypt and Qatar have spent much of this year trying to broker a truce and the release of scores of hostages held by Hamas but the talks have repeatedly bogged downIn recent weeks Netanyahu has insisted on lasting Israeli control over the Gaza side of the border with Egypt which Israeli forces captured in May He has said Hamas used a network of tunnels beneath the border to import arms allegations denied by Egypt which along with Hamas is opposed to any lasting Israeli presence thereAn Israeli military official said late Saturday that of the dozens of tunnels discovered along the border only nine entered Egypt and all were found to have been sealed off The official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence said that it wasnt clear when the tunnels were sealedThe discovery appeared to weaken Netanyahus argument that Israel needs to keep openended control of the corridor to prevent crossborder smugglingEgypt has said it sealed off the tunnels on its side of the border years ago in part by creating its own military buffer zone along the frontierThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever