Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen fired a “new hypersonic ballistic missile” at an Israeli military target earlier today, prompting heart-pounding sounds of alarms and panic across Central Israel as residents fled to bomb shelters.

More than two million Israelis entered their bomb shelters as alerts were sounded at 6:32 a.m. in the greater Tel Aviv area, Coastal Plain, and Yarkon Region, as well as parts of Samaria and the Judean foothills. No one was directly hurt in the missile strike, except for nine people who were slightly injured running to safe rooms. Shrapnel from the shot-down rocket damaged a nearby train station in Modi’in and fragments of the interceptors and of the missile hit other places in Israel as well. 

A resident of Modi’in, Naama, told the New York Sun that she and her partner woke to the sound of the alarm at 6:30 a.m. “We ran to our bomb shelter and then continued the day as usual,” she said. 

The Iranian-made surface-to-surface missile reportedly travelled 1,200 miles from Yemen in 11 minutes and 30 seconds. 

The Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, said in a video statement that the Houthis have targeted an Israeli military target with a “new hypersonic ballistic missile” and that the defense systems in place failed to intercept it. According to the IDF, the ballistic missile “probably fragmented in mid air.” The IDF is reviewing whether interceptor missiles successfully stopped the rocket. 

Israel has successfully intercepted past ballistic missiles from Yemen with its Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 defense systems since the start of the Swords of Iron war, when the Houthis began firing drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles at Israel, mostly aimed at the city of Eilat.

This is the third time that the Houthis have penetrated Israel’s defense system, following a drone attack in July that killed Yevgeny Ferder in Tel Aviv, while a ballistic rocket hit an open area in Eilat in March. 

The Houthis have also carried out dozens of drone and missile strikes on international shipping in the globally-used waterways of the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. Last month, missiles hit a Greek-flagged tanker carrying more than a million barrels of crude, according to the AFP.  Several Filipino sailors have also been killed in Houthi strikes. America has retaliated against the Houthi targets in response. 

Despite the Houthi attack on Israel today, schools and educational institutions resumed opening as scheduled in central Israel.

In northern Israel, however, which was heavily bombarded by Hezbollah rockets from Lebanon over the weekend, schools were scheduled to open a day later.