The Houthi rebel group on Monday evening published footage of the launch of the alleged hypersonic missile that was fired at central Israel yesterday, a missile they named "Palestine 2."
According to the Houthis, the missile has a range of 2,150 kilometers.On Sunday, Yahya Sarieh, spokesman for the military wing of the Houthis, accepted responsibility for launching the missile towards the center of Israel.
"We carried out a high-quality military operation aimed at a military target in the Tel Aviv area," he said. "The operation was carried out using a new hypersonic ballistic missile that managed to reach its destination. The enemy's defense system was unable to intercept it. The missile caused fear among the Zionists. More than two million Zionists fled to shelters for the first time in history."
The IDF confirmed that it was a surface-to-surface missile that was launched from Yemen, crossed into Israel's territory, and landed in an open area in the area of Kfar Daniel, which is about six kilometers from Tel Aviv. However, the IDF disputed the Houthis' claims that the missile was hypersonic, as it did not break the speed of sound at any point.
The investigation into the attempts to intercept the missile revealed that the missile was not destroyed in the air, but exploded after the interception, and that the fragments of the missile fell in an open area.
The investigation also found that the interceptor hit the target and caused it to break into pieces – but did not completely destroy it. At the time of the incident, the air defense launched additional interceptors to hit large fragments of the missile.
The missile was launched from Yemen and was monitored by the air control system. During the incident, alerts were activated in the Greater Tel Aviv area, but despite several interception attempts by the Arrow and Iron Dome systems, they did not destroy it completely.
As a result of the fall, a fire broke out, which was extinguished by firefighters after several hours. Five people were injured as a result of running into the protected area.