An Israeli police officer investigates a crater at the site of a missile attack, launched from Yemen, near Ben Gurion Airport, in Tel Aviv, Israel May 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Avshalom Sassoni

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said late on Sunday they would impose a “comprehensive” aerial blockade on Israel by repeatedly targeting its airports, in response to Israel expanding its operations in Gaza.

The Iran-backed Houthis, an internationally designated terrorist group, claimed responsibility for a missile strike on Sunday that hit near Israel‘s Ben Gurion Airport, the latest in a string of attacks, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate.

Most attacks from Yemen have been intercepted by Israel‘s missile defense systems, though a drone strike hit Tel Aviv last year. Sunday’s missile was the only one of a series launched since March that was not intercepted.

The Houthis’ Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center, a body set up last year to liaise between Houthi forces and commercial shipping operators, issued the warning about targeting Israeli airports, saying Ben Gurion Airport would be the top target.

The statement attached an email it said was sent to the International Air Transport Association, the global airlines body, and the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization.

Houthi forces called “upon all international airlines to take this announcement into serious consideration … and to cancel all their flights to the airports of the criminal Israeli enemy, in order to safeguard the safety of their aircraft and passengers,” the email said.

Israel‘s security cabinet approved plans for an expanded operation in the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported on Friday, adding to signs that attempts to stop the fighting and return hostages held by Palestinian militant group Hamas have made no progress.

Since the collapse of an earlier ceasefire agreement in March, Israeli troops have been carving out wide buffer zones in Gaza wile intensifying military operations against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

Israel’s military campaign came in response to Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 people taken hostage.