Israel’s Netanyahu vows action against Yemen’s Houthis missile attack in Tel Aviv airport

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday (May 4, 2025) promised a multi-phased repsonse to Yemen’s Houthis after the Iran-backed rebels struck the area of Israel’s main airport with a missile.
| Photo Credit: AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday (May 4, 2025) promised a multi-phased repsonse to Yemen’s Houthis after the Iran-backed rebels struck the area of Israel’s main airport with a missile.

“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,” Netanyahu said in a video on published on the Telegram messaging platform

Israeli media said multiple international airlines cancelld flights following the strike. The war with Hamas and then Hezbollah in Lebanon had led a wave of airlines to suspend flights to Israel but they have since returned to pre-war levels.

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said in a video statement that the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.

Houthi rebels have been firing at Israel since the war with Gaza erupted on October 7, 2023, and the missiles have mostly been intercepted, although  Israel’s missile defense systems, causing damage.

Israel has struck back against the rebels in Yemen and the U.S., Israel’s top ally, also  in March against them.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed retribution for the airport attack: “Whoever harms us, we will harm them sevenfold.”