Alarms sounded early Thursday morning across central Israel as a missile launched by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen triggered alerts across central Israel and the Jerusalem area.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that the missile was intercepted outside Israel’s borders.
The alarms blared at 3:59 a.m., jolting millions awake in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the center of the country.
The missile launch coincided with a speech by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in the Knesset during a debate on the Arrangements Law, a package of government-sponsored legislation presented alongside the state budget.
“With God’s help, we will lead to a great victory and bring a budget for growth and infrastructure, we will win the war, we will reward the reservists,” Smotrich declared, moments before MKs were informed of the alarms.
“How can we not hear?” Smotrich remarked as television screens filled with flashing warnings.
Knesset members are typically required to evacuate only if alarms sound in the immediate vicinity of the parliament building, which was not the case. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not present in the plenum at the time.
Magen David Adom reported that 13 people sustained injuries while rushing to protected areas, while three others suffered panic-related injuries.
As a precaution, several incoming flights to Ben Gurion Airport were delayed while runways were inspected.
The attack followed a missile launch by the Houthis a day earlier, the first since the collapse of a recent ceasefire. That missile was intercepted by Israel’s Arrow defense system in Saudi airspace, triggered alerts in Beersheba and surrounding Negev communities.
Image - Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90