Houthi rebels claim they fired a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was landing back in Israel – and just hours after a series of devastating airstrikes on Beirut resulted in the death of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Netanyahu was swift to shrug off the near-miss with an address to the nation shortly afterwards in which he justified Israel’s actions and said they had ‘settled the score’ with the death of Nasrallah, a man he described as ‘the arc murderer’.
He also remained unrepentant after a series of IDF strikes on Friday and Saturday left Beirut a smouldering city and said Israel will ‘continue to strike our enemies’ while continuing to press for the release of the more than 100 hostages remaining in Gaza.
Warning there would be more to come, Netanyahu defiantly said: ‘There is no place in Iran nor the Middle East where the long arm of Israel cannot reach.’
His comments came as air raid sirens sounded across central Israel on Saturday afternoon, including in Tel Aviv, in the aftermath of the Houthi attempt.
Large explosions were heard after a missile was fired from Yemen and intercepted, the Israeli military said.
Houthi rebels claim they fired a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was landing back in Israel after a short visit to New York
Yemen’s Houthi militants shared a message on X that they fired a ballistic missile at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, just at the moment that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was landing
Houthi rebels said the attack on Ben Gurion International airport was timed to coincide with the arrival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Air raid sirens sounded across central Israel on Saturday afternoon, and again just after 8pm amid reports of a missile from Lebanon directed at the Jerusalem area
Yemen’s Houthi militants confirmed later that they had fired a ballistic missile at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv.
They said the attack was timed to coincide with the arrival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who returned to the country on Saturday after addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.
There has been no news of damage or casualties caused by the missile.
Shortly after 8pm on Saturday, sirens also sounded in the Jerusalem region following reports of a missile launched from Lebanon into Israeli territory.
It is understood a missile hit an area in the West Bank, sparking a fire near the Mitzpe Hagit outpost and causing power outages, Times of Israel reports.
Netanyahu had been in the United States on Friday to address the UN General Assembly.
Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement: ‘The operation was carried out with a Palestine 2 ballistic missile.
‘The Yemeni armed forces – along with all the honourable and free people of the nation – continue to respond to the crimes of the Israeli enemy, and will not hesitate to raise the level of escalation in response to the requirements of the stage and participate in the defence of Gaza and Lebanon.
‘These operations will cease only after the cessation of the aggression against Gaza and Lebanon.’
The action came as Iran’s supreme leader chillingly vowed the killing of Hezbollah boss Hassan Nasrallah and a senior Iranian commander ‘shall not go unavenged’.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is thought to have been moved to a secure location, said on Saturday that Nasrallah would be avenged and his path in fighting Israel would be continued by other militants, as he announced five days of mourning in Iran.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei chillingly vowed the killing of Hezbollah boss Hassan Nasrallah and a senior Iranian commander ‘shall not go unavenged’
Israel killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah (pictured in 2015) in strikes on Beirut last night
Hassan Nasrallah spoke to the world in front of a red screen last Thursday, insisting that the deadly attacks ‘deserve a response’ before launching salvoes of rockets towards Israel
‘(Nasrallah) was not an individual. He was a path and a school of thought and the path will be continued,’ Ayatollah Khamenei said in a statement read on state television.
‘The blood of the martyr shall not go unavenged,’ he said.
New details emerging on Saturday night suggest the IDF bombarded Nasrallah’s command bunker with more than 80 bombs in an operation organised at the last minute, The Sun reports.
It is understood the IDF had a ‘use it or lose it moment’ in which to kill Nasrallah, who was in a bunker 50 metres underground, after intelligence reported he would soon move to a different location.
The IDF unrelentingly pounded the Hezbollah headquarters in Dahieh with a barrage of explosives over just a few minutes on Friday.
Nasrallah was killed in the strikes alongside the commander of Hezbollah’s missile unit in the south of the country, Muhammad Ali Ismail, and his deputy, Hussein Ahmad Ismail.
Israel launched fresh strikes again this afternoon after confirming the death of Hezbollah boss Hassan Nasrallah. Pictured: Large explosions witnessed over Khiam, Lebanon
Flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon this morning
General Abbas Nilforoushan, a deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, had died ‘next to Nasrallah’ in the Israeli strikes.
Analysts believe Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah, will become Hezbollah’s next leader.
On Saturday night, Netanyahu gave an address in which he stood by Israel’s action in Lebanon, adding ‘we are at a historic turning point’.
He also described Nasrallah as ‘the arc murderer’ and ‘the main engine of Iran’s axis of evil’.
Netanyahu said: ‘If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first. The state of Israel killed yesterday Hassan Nasrallah, the arc murderer.
‘We settled the score with the person who is responsible for the killing and assassination of so many Israelis and people of other nationalities, including dozens of Americans and French people.
‘He wasn’t just another terrorist – he was ‘the’ terrorist; he was the main engine of Iran’s axis of evil.
‘Him and his people were the architects of a plan to destroy Israel.
‘He wasn’t only operated by Iran, in many case he operated Iran.’
The Israeli premier went on to say that the devastating blows levelled at Hezbollah by the IDF’ proved not to be ‘enough’ and that taking out Nasrallah became a necessity.
‘The elimination of Nasrallah is a necessary condition for the fulfilment of our goals and bringing an equilibrium to our regions,’ he said.
The IDF issued a statement on Saturday explaining that the strikes had targeted weapons manufacturing sites and routes being used to smuggle weapons into Lebanon from Syria
‘I gave the instruction, and he is no longer with us.
‘All those who oppose [Iran], all these people today have hope.
‘There is no place in Iran nor the middle east where the long arm of Israel cannot reach.’
Addressing his nation, Netanyahu remained unrepentant and urged Israelis to understand that Israel will ‘continue to strike our enemies’ while continuing to press for the release of the more than 100 hostages remaining in Gaza.
Netanyahu, pictured at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday, said tonight that Nasrallah he was the main engine of Iran’s axis of evil
Netanyahu remained unrepentant on Saturday and urged Israelis to understand that Israel will ‘continue to strike our enemies’. Pictured: The Israeli prime minister in New York on Friday
He said: ‘Citizens of Israel we are at a turning point, a historic turning point. A year ago on October 7 our enemies attacked us and thought Israel was about to be annihilated – a year later blow after blow, achievement after achievement they now understand just how much they dissipated.
‘We are winning and will continue to strike our enemies to send our citizens and our people back to their homes and bring back all of the hostages.
‘We did not forget them [hostages] for one minute.
‘Together we will fight and god willing together we will win.’
Elsewhere, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy repeated a plea for calm in the Middle East and said he had spoken with Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Saturday, following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut which killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
‘We agreed on the need for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the bloodshed.
‘A diplomatic solution is the only way to restore security and stability for the Lebanese and Israeli people,’ Lammy said.
Lammy twice called for a ceasefire earlier this week.
He told the UN Security Council on Wednesday: ‘A full-blown war is not in the interests of the Israeli or Lebanese people.’
On Friday, Mr Lammy said: ‘A diplomatic solution is the only way to restore security and stability for the Lebanese and Israeli people.’
But pleas for a ceasefire from Western leaders including US President Joe Biden have so far proved unsuccessful, with both Israel and Hezbollah vowing to fight on.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, pictured at the UN Security Council meeting in New York this week, said he had spoken with Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Saturday
As the crisis deepens, Ettie Higgins, Unicef’s deputy representative in Lebanon, said ‘thousands and thousands’ of people have fled southern Beirut while hospitals were ‘overwhelmed’ and water pumping stations have been destroyed.
She told the BBC’s Today programme: ‘Even the most basic essential services of healthcare and water are now being rapidly, rapidly depleted.
‘There was already a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon given that it’s been hosting over one million refugees from Syria for over a decade, so it’s rapidly escalating into a catastrophe.’
This is the moment Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the green light to ‘unprecedented’ strikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut, Lebanon, while still in New York
She added that 50 children had been killed and she expected that figure to rise as the air strikes continued.
The Foreign Office has warned British nationals to leave Lebanon immediately, with Mr Lammy saying the Government has worked to ‘increase flights and secure seats’.
The PA news agency understands the UK Government has successfully asked airlines to increase capacity on routes out of Lebanon, with Foreign Office teams in Beirut to support British consulate services.
It is thought they are ready to facilitate evacuations by sea or air, which could be triggered if the security environment deteriorates further and British nationals are no longer able to leave the Middle East through other routes.
Around 5,000 British citizens are in Lebanon, and the United Nations said 118,000 Lebanese people have been displaced in recent days.