Cruise missile lands in Israel
(Einat Stekler)
Residents of the southern city of Eilat voiced great concern on Thursday, over the continued threat of missiles fired by Houthi Rebels in Yemen toward Israel. In an evening briefing IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israel had a multilayered defense system to respond to Houthi cruise missiles and UAVs but did not provide more detail.
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The military confirmed that a cruise missile was shot down north of Eilat earlier in the week, only three days after the event.
"We've confronted threats from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. We have a multi-layered air defense that includes planes," Hagari said. "Early in the week, a cruise missile approached our border. It posed no threat to our forces, there were no injuries. The incident will be investigated, and we will apply the lessons learned to be able to provide an adequate response going forward."
Sounds of explosion were heard in Eilat again on Thursday and the military said a suspicious target was intercepted before entering Israeli territory, from the Red Sea.
The Houthi rebels in Yemen have claimed responsibility for missile fire at Israel and for UAVs launched to attack. But the incident this week was the first involving a cruise missile landing inside Israel.
"There is clear progress in our abilities," Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said in a speech on Thursday. "The enemy has realized our use of ballistic missiles for the first time against ships in the sea. The missile that reached Eilat and our strikes in the Indian ocean, are very important developments."
The Iranian proxy group has an arsenal of ballistic and cruise missiles, UAVs and suicide boats. Most times these weapons have been used against maritime traffic passing through the Bab al Mandab straits in the Red Sea and recently in the Indian Ocean as well. But the Houthis have also used them to target Israel.
In their arsenal the Houthis have missiles produced locally with the help of Iran and projectiles supplied by the Islamic Republic. They also have in their possession, weapons taken by the government forces in Yemen when the rebel group took control of vast areas of the county in 2014.
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Houthis fire a missile near the Yemeni border with Saudi Arabia in a military drill last January
(Photo: EPA)
Their ballistic missiles fashioned on the Iranian made Burkan-3 have the capacity to travel some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) according to press reports. Other missiles include the Khatam missile able to hit targets at a distance of 1450 kilometers (900 miles,) and the Toophan missiles able to reach up to 1,950 kilometers (1212 miles) and is the longest-range missile in the rebels' possession.
Among the cruise missiles in the Houthi arsenal, according to reports, was the Quds-1, with a range of up to 800 kilometers (500 miles) the Sayyad also of the same range and the Sejil with a range of 180 kilometers (112 miles.)
Among the Shi'ite axis of pro-Iran proxies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, there are a range of missiles often called similar names but having different technological capabilities, after each group has modified them to suit their needs.