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Watch: Panic, sirens, crater in ground after Houthi missile hits Israel's Tel Aviv airport
The Israel Defence Forces said interception attempts failed, allowing the missile to penetrate the air defence system.
Chaos ensued at Israel’s main airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday after a ballistic missile struck the inside perimeter. At least six people were injured in the incident, while several flights were grounded after a wide crater was formed on the ground, news agency AFP reported.
As per Israel’s Defence Forces (IDF), “several attempts were made to intercept” the missile; however, it penetrated the air defence system. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have taken responsibility for the attack.
Several videos of the incident on social media show the intensity of the damage. In one of the videos, police officers can be seen standing on the edge of a deep hole in the ground.
A control tower is visible behind them; however, no damage to the airport infrastructure has been reported so far.
The police reported a "missile impact" at Israel's main international gateway. "You can see the area just behind us: a crater was formed here, several dozen metres (yards) wide and several dozen metres deep," said central Israel's police chief, Yair Hezroni, in a video statement cited by the news agency.
According to an AFP news agency photographer, the projectile hit near the airport’s largest terminal, Terminal 3, parking lot. The crater was only a few hundred metres away from the runway.
Following the attack, Defence Minister Israel Katz warned of retaliation, saying: "Anyone who hits us, we will hit them seven times stronger."
Air India’s flight to Tel Aviv diverted to Abu Dhabi
An Air India flight from New Delhi to Tel Aviv was diverted to Abu Dhabi on Sunday after the missile attack struck near the Israeli airport, reported PTI.
The missile strike occurred less than an hour before Flight AI139, a Boeing 787, was scheduled to land in Tel Aviv, as per PTI sources.
The airline, along with other carriers like British Airways, Lufthansa, has suspended all flights to Tel Aviv for the next few days as a safety precaution.
The Israel Airports Authority confirmed the danger, stating: "This is the first time a missile has fallen so close to the terminal and the runways."
Officials have not yet confirmed whether the blast came from a missile launched from Yemen or from an Israeli interceptor.
