Residents of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area and central Israel were jolted awake by unusual sirens at 6:30 a.m. Sunday, marking the first time in recent months that such alarms had been heard in the region. Shortly after the sirens, explosions were reported.
Evacuating to protected area at Ben Gurion airport
(Video: Marco Alon)
The IDF later confirmed that the alarms were triggered by the detection of a surface-to-surface missile that entered Israeli airspace and landed in an open area near Lod. Initially, the IDF reported the missile was launched from the east, but later clarified that it had been fired from Yemen. The Houthi rebels in Yemen threatened to launch missiles into Israel, following the attack on the port of Hodeidah two months ago.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service (MDA) reported that five men and women who were slightly injured after being injured on their way to a protected area were evacuated to hospitals.
The interceptors that were launched apparently did not hit the missile, which landed near Lod. Parts of an interceptor fell in populated areas. One of the fragments hit the train station at the entrance to Modi'in. Mayor Haim Bibas wrote on his Facebook account that "this morning an alarm was sounded in our area following a launch that was apparently carried out from the east. Fragments of an interceptor fell in the area of the Modi'in train station. I had conversations with representatives of the Home Front Command and for the time being there is no change in the instructions, including activity in the education system."
The police said that they are isolating the scene of the crash of the interceptor fragment at the Modi'in train station. The police added that they are "scanning for additional remains of an interceptor in order to remove another risk to the public, without casualties."
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Part of an interceptor rocket crashes into train station in Modiin
(Photo: Israel Police spokesman)
Sirens were heard in several cities, including Rishon Lezion, Ramat Gan, Holon, Or Yehuda, Kiryat Ono, Elad, Rehovot, Savyon, Shoham, Lod, Modiin-Maccabim-Reut, Nes Ziona, Ramla, Be’er Ya’akov and Yehud-Monosson.
At Ben Gurion Airport, passengers were seen evacuating to safety, and on a train, travelers were filmed taking cover near their seats.