November 10, 2025
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A drone fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels breached Israel's multilayered air defenses on Sunday and slammed into the country's southern airport, the Israeli military said, blowing out glass windows, wounding one person, and briefly shutting down commercial airspace.
The damage to Ramon Airport appeared limited, and flights resumed within hours. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the strike.
The attack follows Israeli strikes on Yemen's rebel-held capital that killed the Houthi prime minister and other top officials in a major escalation of the nearly 2-year-old conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed terrorist group in Yemen.
In Gaza City, the Israeli military on Sunday leveled another high-rise tower and urged people to move south as it intensified its offensive on the city.
After Israel's killing of Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi last Thursday, the terrorists vowed to escalate their attacks targeting Israel and merchant ships navigating the vital Red Sea trade route.
One of several Houthi drones launched from Yemen on Sunday slipped through Israel’s sophisticated defense system and crashed into the passenger terminal at the Ramon International Airport near the resort city of Eilat, the Israeli Airports Authority said, diverting flights over southern Israel and inflicting light shrapnel wounds on a 63-year-old man.
Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the group had fired eight drones at Israel to signal that the rebels “will escalate their military operations and not back down from their support for Gaza.” He warned that Israeli airports “are unsafe and will be continuously targeted.”
The Israeli military said it intercepted three Houthi drones near Israel's border with Egypt and was investigating why it failed to identify the fourth drone that struck Ramon Airport as a threat.
The Houthis have stepped up their aerial attacks on Israel in recent months, including by deploying warheads with cluster munitions that scatter smaller bomblets over a large area and can evade Israeli air defenses.
Saying that they were acting in solidarity with the Palestinians, the Houthis began firing missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel ignited the Israeli military’s devastating campaign in Gaza. Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted over 250 in their assault on southern Israel.
While frequent, the aerial attacks from Yemen have not caused significant damage in Israel.
Before Sunday's assault, the most damaging Houthi attack was in May, when a Houthi missile struck near Israel’s main Ben Gurion Airport, prompting international airlines to cancel flights to Tel Aviv for months.
The Israeli military said it razed another high-rise building in Gaza City on Sunday, shortly after military spokesperson Avichay Adraee ordered the evacuation of people from a seven-story building in a southern Gaza City neighborhood and nearby tents. Al-Ra’iya Tower crumbled in a flash, its facade cascading down into a heap of rubble and sending people scrambling for cover.
Israel said the building targeted on Sunday had been used by Hamas terrorists for intelligence-gathering activities. Hamas denied the accusation. It was unclear how many people had been killed or wounded in the attack.
It's the third Gaza City high-rise leveled in as many days as Israel ramps up its offensive to take control of what it says is Hamas' last remaining stronghold, urging Palestinians to flee parts of Gaza City for a designated humanitarian zone in the territory’s south.
Over 64,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began, according to claims by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry that does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on social media on Sunday that Israel accepted his terms for a ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to do the same. It was not clear precisely what those terms were.
“I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting,” Trump wrote. “This is my last warning, there will not be another one!” Trump has previously issued similar ultimatums to Hamas.
There was no immediate Israeli confirmation of his claim, which came as preparations for the Israeli military’s advance on Gaza City move ahead, and negotiations remain at an impasse. The Israeli prime minister’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Hamas confirmed it “received through intermediaries some ideas from the U.S.” and said it “welcomed any initiative” to end the war that involved the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
But the group said it had not dropped its insistence on a full-scale Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and formation of an independent Palestinian committee to administer Gaza's civil affairs — conditions that Israel has rejected in the past. It also gave no indication that it would disband its armed wing.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted on Hamas’ full disarmament as a condition for a comprehensive ceasefire.
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