Multiple airlines suspend Israel flights after Houthi missile strikes outside main airport

A MISSILE HAS struck inside the perimeter of Israel’s main airport, wounding six people, halting flights and gouging a wide crater, in an attack claimed by the Houthis.

The Israeli military said “several attempts were made to intercept” the missile that was launched from Yemen but it managed to penetrate Israel’s air defences.

An official told AFP the country’s security cabinet would convene in the evening.

An incoming Air India flight was diverted to Abu Dhabi, an airport official told AFP.

It was one of the airlines to suspend Tel Aviv flights until Tuesday, along with Germany’s Lufthansa Group, which includes Austrian, Eurowings and SWISS.

British Airways is suspending all flights to and from Tel Aviv until Wednesday. 

A police video showed officers standing on the edge of a deep hole in the ground with the control tower visible behind them. No damage was reported to airport infrastructure.

The police reported a “missile impact” at Israel’s main international gateway.

An AFP photographer said the missile hit near the parking lots of Terminal 3, the airport’s largest. The crater was just hundreds of metres from the tarmac.

“You can see the area just behind us: a crater was formed here, several dozen metres wide and several dozen metres deep,” central Israel’s police chief, Yair Hezroni, said in the video.

The Israel Airports Authority said: “This is the first time a missile has fallen so close to the terminal and the runways.”

It was not immediately clear whether the impact was caused by the Yemeni missile or by an interceptor.

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The attack was claimed by the Houthis, who say they act in support for Palestinians in war-ravaged Gaza.

“The missile force of the Yemeni armed forces carried out a military operation targeting Ben Gurion airport” with a “hypersonic ballistic missile”, the rebels said, referring to their forces.

Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened a forceful response, saying: “Anyone who hits us, we will hit them seven times stronger.”

Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad later hailed the attack on the airport.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said it had treated at least six people with light to moderate injuries.

An AFP journalist inside the airport at the time of the attack said he heard a “loud bang” at around 9.35 am (6.35am GMT), adding the “reverberation was very strong”.

“Security staff immediately asked hundreds of passengers to take shelter, some in bunkers,” the AFP journalist said.

“Many passengers are now waiting for their flights to take off, and others are trying to find alternative flights.”

Most flights resumed after being halted briefly, with the aviation authority saying Ben Gurion was now “open and operational”.

The Houthis, who control swathes of Yemen, have launched missiles and drones targeting Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Gaza war. They say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians.

Sunday’s attack on Israel was the fourth the Houthis have claimed in three days.

The US military has been hammering the rebels with near-daily strikes since 15 March.

© AFP 2025