TEL AVIV
On Sunday, a drone of the Hou-thi rebels in Yemen hit the Ramon International Airport in Is-r@ael and caused the airport to stop all flights, which underscored the increasing range of the conflict in the region.
The Is-ra@eli military verified that a number of drones were launched in Yemen with air defenses intercepting some of them before they could fly into Is-ra@el. According to the rescue services at least one drone struck the passenger hall of the airport close to the resort city of Eilat and left one individual slightly injured.
The attack caused disruption to the operations of the airport which supports domestic as well as international flights. Ramon Airport was inaugurated in 2019 and is located approximately 19 kilometers (12 miles) north of Eilat and the second international gateway in Is-r@ael in addition to Ben Gurion Airport.
Houthi leaders rejoiced at the attack, dubbing it as a special military operation and urged foreigners to evacuate Israel airports, as they fired on other targets considered sensitive. It is the result of the assassination of a Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi by an Israeli air raid on Sanaa two weeks ago, which rebels made a vow to respond with intensified assaults on Israel and the Red Sea shipping lanes.
It is not the first occasion when the Houthis targeted Israeli airports. In May, one of the near misses was in Ben Gurion Airport where a missile injured four people and forced international carriers to cancel flights months. In retaliation Israel later bombed the main airport of Sanaa.
In the meantime, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his government will continue with its attack on the Gaza City, calling it the last significant stronghold of Hamas. He had alleged that there were more than 100,000 Palestinians who had fled the city but U.N. estimations showed that much less have fled, so people are concerned about where they can be safe.
Peacekeeping operations are stuck. Hamas is demanding that it will not disarm until an independent Palestinian state is formed and Jerusalem is its capital. Nevertheless, it has shown readiness to settle on a 60-day truce provided that Israel withdraws its troops in the occupied territory and sets Palestine captives free, as well as frees Israeli hostages. In Gaza there are approximately 48 hostages, 20 of whom are thought to have survived.
The humanitarian cost is on the ground, but, on the ground, it is growing. Israeli attacks on Palestine on Sunday claimed the lives of at least 13 Palestinians, among them three women and six children, local hospitals reported. Eight of the fatalities were registered in a school in the north of Gaza that hosts displaced families. Israel claimed it was striking militants in the vicinity of the school but it claimed that Hamas was using civilian facilities to conceal weapons.
The Health Ministry in Gaza estimates that since the war broke out, over 64,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 162,000 injured, of whom women and children have comprised even more than half the total number of the casualties.
