Yemen missile intercepted over skies of Rishon Lezion
(Video: Kobi Koankes)
A surface-to-surface ballistic missile fired from Yemen triggered sirens across central Israel, the IDF said Monday afternoon, adding that the projectile had been successfully intercepted by air defenses.
The interception was made using the Arrow 3 long-range missile defense system, designed to take out incoming ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere.
Warning alerts were issued for 132 localities across central Israel due to fear of rocket fragments. As a result, flights from Ben Gurion Airport were grounded but reinstated shortly after.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or property damage. Fire and Rescue Services reported that firefighting teams were dispatched to locations around Beit Shemesh and the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council to contain fires apparently caused by interception fragments.
After the missile launch, senior Houthi official Nasruddin Amer wrote on X, "To the shelters, Zionists, this is October 7, this is the Al-Aqsa flood."
During the sirens, preparations were underway for the National Memorial Ceremony in Yarkon Park, where footage showed over 100 international journalists, who had come to cover the ceremony, lying on the ground for protection.
In the past 24 hours, Israel has been attacked from Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza. Some interception attempts missed their targets and are being investigated by the Air Force, though, across all fronts, 90% of launches have been intercepted over the past year.
The missile launch from Yemen occurred a few hours after a large-scale IDF operation in southern Lebanon, which was followed by heavy rocket barrages aimed at the Haifa Bay area, the Galilee Panhandle and Kiryat Shmona. The strikes targeted Hezbollah command nodes in southern Lebanon to support forces fighting along front-line villages.
In total, 100 Israeli Air Force planes carried out a massive aerial assault, targeting more than 120 Hezbollah terror sites in southern Lebanon for over an hour. The IDF said it hit key sites, including Hezbollah's Southern Front geographic units, the Radwan Force, rocket and missile capabilities and the terrorist group's intelligence headquarters in southern Lebanon.
These strikes continued the waves of attacks in Beirut, where Hezbollah’s weapons factories and storage facilities were bombed, some located in basements, buildings and underground. The IDF identified that these large weapons stockpiles were moved by Hezbollah from the Bekaa Valley and other areas in Lebanon to Beirut's Dahieh district, hoping they would be protected.
"We have reason to believe our intelligence on the targets in Lebanon is better than what we had on Hamas over the years. But this is why we’re not satisfied with just airstrikes, and we’re also conducting ground operations in the front-line villages where Hezbollah has based its plan to invade the Galilee," IDF officials said.
"As for our performance against what the enemy has done, there were no operational surprises. The Air Force's functional continuity and operational activity have not been disrupted at any point."
Earlier, sirens were triggered in Kiryat Shmona, Manara, Margaliot and Kfar Blum in the Galilee Panhandle, with approximately 25 rockets launched from Lebanon as part of the volley.
Additional sirens were heard in the Haifa Bay area, Acre and Nahariya, with multiple interceptions documented over the Haifa Bay skies.
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Multiple rocket interceptions documented over the Haifa Bay skies
(Photo: Ofi Spiegel)
Since the morning, a total of 135 rocket launches from Lebanon have been recorded in the region.
Also on Monday, the IDF said five rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip's Khan Younis, setting off alarms in Tel Aviv and neighboring cities across central Israel. One rocket landed in the city of Holon and another in the ultra-Orthodox community of Kfar Chabad near Ben Gurion Airport, where 2 people were lightly hurt.
Meanwhile, the IDF launched a targeted strike in Beirut's Dahieh district, a Hezbollah stronghold, hitting the area where Hashem Safieddine, the designated successor to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, was targeted.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar reported that three residents of the village of Khiam in southern Lebanon were killed in an Israeli drone strike near the Jdeide-Marjayoun road. The victims were reportedly inside their vehicle at the time of the strike.
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