2025-05-04T17:15:55Z

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In a bold statement on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the recent missile attack on Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, which was carried out by Yemen's Houthi rebels. The assault resulted in injuries to six individuals and led several major airlines to suspend their flights to and from Israel's main international gateway.

Netanyahu, in a video shared on Telegram, declared that Israel has previously engaged with the Iran-backed Houthis and would continue to do so in the future. “It will not happen in one bang, but there will be many bangs,” he remarked, alluding to a series of retaliatory actions that Israel plans to undertake against the rebels, although he did not reveal specific details regarding the operations.

In a subsequent post on X (formerly Twitter), the Prime Minister emphasized the connection between the Houthi assaults and Iran, stating that these attacks are orchestrated by Iran, Israel’s arch-nemesis in the region. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters,” Netanyahu wrote, highlighting the broader geopolitical implications of the incident.

Earlier in the day, Israeli police confirmed that air traffic to Ben Gurion Airport was temporarily halted following the missile launch from Yemen. Eyewitness accounts from an AFP photographer indicated that the missile impacted near the parking lots of Terminal 3, the largest terminal at the airport. The crater left by the missile was located just a few hundred meters from the active tarmac, raising significant safety concerns.

Witnesses reported hearing panic-filled shouts and scrambling passengers seeking shelter as the missile struck. A senior Israeli police commander, Yair Hetzroni, led a press briefing where he presented the crater caused by the missile's impact. “You can see the scene right behind us here, a hole that opened up with a diameter of tens of meters and also tens of meters deep,” Hetzroni noted, though he assured that there was no significant structural damage to the airport.

The Houthi rebels, who have actively targeted Israel during the ongoing conflict in Gaza as a show of solidarity with the Palestinian people, claimed in a video statement that they used a hypersonic ballistic missile to conduct the strike on the airport, according to reports from the Associated Press.

In response to the missile attack, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a stern warning, vowing that “Whoever harms us, we will harm them sevenfold.” This statement underscores Israel's commitment to retaliatory measures that are proportionate and severe.

Following the attack, several international airlines, including Air India, made the decision to suspend their services to and from Tel Aviv, highlighting the impact of security incidents on global air travel and tourism. The interruption of services not only affects passengers but also poses economic ramifications for Israel's tourism sector, which has been recovering after previous disruptions.