This isn’t the first time they’ve tried to do this. Brigadier General Yahya Sare’e said Israeli airports were an “unsafe area” when they first targeted them over a month ago, but back then the missiles were intercepted. It’s just with the missile not being intercepted this time, and impacting around 500m away from the control tower and main terminal, they have the political capital to make a public announcement like this. The Yemeni Armed Forces have been trying to carry out an air blockade against Israel for some time, since March 22nd 2025 at least.
No change in the type of missile, a Palestine-2 (Fattah-1/Kheibar Shekan variant). Overall in capabilities they’re getting better at evading midcourse interception since the beginning of the campaign, meaning Israel has to use terminal phase interceptors like Arrow-2 or THAAD. Overall 27 ballistic missiles of various types (some maneuverable, some not) have been launched at Israel since March 15, with 25 being partially or fully intercepted, and two direct hits. (92.5% interception rate, 7.5% hit rate). So you could say it’s a lucky hit, or an inevitable one given that 100% interception is impossible. The caveat here is that only one or two missiles are fired at a time by Yemen, if advanced missiles (like Palestine-2/Fattah-1/Kheibar Shekan) get fired in a sufficient volley, the hit rate would be substantially higher, even with THAAD in the picture.
This isn’t the first time they’ve tried to do this. Brigadier General Yahya Sare’e said Israeli airports were an “unsafe area” when they first targeted them over a month ago, but back then the missiles were intercepted. It’s just with the missile not being intercepted this time, and impacting around 500m away from the control tower and main terminal, they have the political capital to make a public announcement like this. The Yemeni Armed Forces have been trying to carry out an air blockade against Israel for some time, since March 22nd 2025 at least.
I covered this here
So was there a change in their capabilities, or did a lucky one get thru?
No change in the type of missile, a Palestine-2 (Fattah-1/Kheibar Shekan variant). Overall in capabilities they’re getting better at evading midcourse interception since the beginning of the campaign, meaning Israel has to use terminal phase interceptors like Arrow-2 or THAAD. Overall 27 ballistic missiles of various types (some maneuverable, some not) have been launched at Israel since March 15, with 25 being partially or fully intercepted, and two direct hits. (92.5% interception rate, 7.5% hit rate). So you could say it’s a lucky hit, or an inevitable one given that 100% interception is impossible. The caveat here is that only one or two missiles are fired at a time by Yemen, if advanced missiles (like Palestine-2/Fattah-1/Kheibar Shekan) get fired in a sufficient volley, the hit rate would be substantially higher, even with THAAD in the picture.