Houthi rebels operating from Yemen, backed by Iran, have claimed responsibility for a drone attack on Tel Aviv. Israeli officials say one person has been killed and several others have been injured.
“The Yemeni armed forces' aerial drones (…) were used to conduct a high-level military operation. They targeted one of the important facilities in the occupied zone in Jaffa, known in Israel as Tel Aviv,” said the militants' spokesman Yahya Sari.
Houthi rebels have been attacking ships near the Yemeni coast for months in a gesture they say is of solidarity with Palestinians fighting Israel.
Emergency services at the scene of the explosion in Tel AvivPAP/EPA/ABIR SULTAN
One person died
The Israeli army said that one person was killed in a powerful explosion in the center of Tel Aviv, Israel, on the night from Thursday to Friday. Reuters wrote that four people were taken to hospital with minor injuries, and another four with shock. According to hospital officials cited by the agency, all of those people have already left the facility.
An Israeli military official quoted by Reuters said the attack was carried out by a large drone that can fly long distances.
He did not confirm the Houthi rebels' claims but said that “we are not ruling out any possibilities now.”
The military is still investigating why the drone did not trigger an air raid alert, he said. Initial reports suggest the sirens did not go off because of human error.
A resident of central Tel Aviv told AFP he was woken by a loud explosion. “Everything was shaking,” he said.
Yemen's Houthi rebels, who are allied with the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, have repeatedly fired drones and rockets at Israel since the Israeli authorities launched the war against Hamas in response to the group's invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023. So far, all attempted attacks have been thwarted by Israel or its Western allies in the Middle East.
Main image source: PAP/EPA/ABIR SULTAN