An IAF investigation is underway after a Houthi missile struck near Lod, raising concerns the projectile may have been a cluster munition designed to evade Israel’s multi-layered defense systems.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) has launched an investigation into why a Houthi missile fired from Yemen on Friday night was not intercepted before part of it exploded in the yard of a home in Moshav Ginaton, near Lod.
According to Yedioth Aharonoth, one possibility under review is that the projectile was a cluster munition — a missile designed to split into multiple sub-missiles mid-flight, similar to those used by Iran in Operation Rising Lion.
Soon after the launch, senior Houthi official Nasser al-Din A’mer boasted online:
“This is a historic moment in which a Yemeni missile split up into several missiles over Israel.”
In a follow-up post, he claimed:
“Two clips clearly demonstrate the missile reaching its target, disproving the enemy’s claims of interception. The truth is that the difficulty lay in the failure of all defense systems and multiple layers.”
The missile triggered sirens across central Israel before fragments landed in the yard of 85-year-old Ilana Hatumi, who took shelter just before impact.
“I was sitting in the shelter, I heard a boom, everything exploded. The windows are gone — but we’re fine. It’s only material damage,” she said, reflecting on her narrow escape.
The incident has raised pressing questions about Israel’s layered air-defense architecture — from Iron Dome to David’s Sling and the Arrow system — and whether cluster munitions may present a new challenge in the evolving regional missile threat.
