An Israeli army vehicle moves along the border with the Gaza Strip as seen from a position on the Israeli side of the border on September 7, 2025. Amir Levy / Getty Images

A drone fired by the Houthi militants in Yemen breached Israel's air defenses on Sunday and slammed into the country's southern airport, the Israeli military said.

It was one of several drones fired by the Houthis, according to the military, but it said most had been intercepted outside of Israel.

The drone crashed into the passenger terminal at the Ramon International Airport near the resort city of Eilat, the Israeli Airports Authority said, blowing out glass windows and sending smoke plumes billowing.

The Houthis hailed Sunday's attack on Ramon Airport — some 19 kilometers (12 miles) from Eilat on Israel's southern tip — as "a unique, qualitative military operation."

"Enemy airports are unsafe, and foreigners must leave them for their own safety," Nasruddin Amer, deputy head of the Houthi media office, wrote on social media. "Other sensitive targets are under fire."

Israel's Magen David Adom emergency rescue service said it treated a 63-year-old man for light shrapnel wounds. The damage to Ramon Airport appeared limited, and within a couple of hours, it reopened as normal flights resumed.

The attack comes days after Israeli strikes on Yemen's rebel-held capital of Sanaa killed Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi and other officials in his cabinet in a major escalation of the nearly 2-year-old conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group in Yemen.

Saying that they were acting in solidarity with the Palestinians, the Houthis began firing missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack ignited the Israeli military's devastating campaign in Gaza.

The Houthis have stepped up their aerial attacks on Israel in recent months, including by deploying warheads with cluster munitions. They scatter smaller explosive projectiles over a large area and are harder for Israel's air defense system to stop, which otherwise intercepts most drones and missiles.

Houthi attacks on Israel, while frequent since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October 2023, have rarely caused major damage or struck significant targets like airports. But in May, a Houthi missile hit near Israel's main Ben Gurion Airport, prompting many international airlines to cancel flights to Tel Aviv for months.

Israel pushes forward with Gaza City operation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday vowed to push forward with Israel's operation in Gaza City, with no reported progress in restarting negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

"Our effort in Gaza on the last strongholds, actually the last important stronghold, Gaza City, is part of our effort to complete the crushing of the Iranian axis's chokehold," Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu claimed that over 100,000 Palestinians have heeded the military's calls to evacuate Gaza City ahead of the operation, a figure disputed by international organizations. The United Nations has reported just 41,000 people out of the city's population of 1 million leaving over the last month.

Meanwhile, attempts to relaunch negotiations between Israel and Hamas are faltering.

Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas' political bureau, said the militant group won't lay down its arms until the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. But he said that Hamas is ready for a long-term truce and will release the hostages still being held in Gaza in exchange for a number of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

Naim said Hamas is still waiting for Israel to respond to a 60-day ceasefire proposal crafted by Egyptian and Qatari mediators last month.

The Prime Minister's Office refused to comment on negotiations.

There are 48 hostages still being held in Gaza, around 20 of whom Israel believes are still alive. Militants kidnapped 251 people and killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel during the attack that sparked the war on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said a total of 64,368 people have been killed and 162,776 have been wounded since the start of the war. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but says more than half of the casualties were women and children.

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