Yemen’s Houthis claim responsibility for fatal Tel Aviv drone attack

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a drone explosion over central Tel Aviv in the early hours of Friday that struck buildings, leaving one person dead, The Guardian reports. The Israeli military said it believed the drone was Iranian-made and launched from Yemen. “An initial inquiry indicates that the explosion in Tel Aviv was caused by the falling of an aerial target, and no sirens were activated. The incident is under thorough review,” the military said in a statement. It said air patrols had been increased to protect Israeli airspace but it had not ordered new civil defence measures. Defence minister, Yoav Gallant, vowed to “settle the score,” in response to the attack, according to Israeli army radio. His remarks followed a meeting with top military and intelligence officials to assess the incident, which left 10 wounded in addition to one dead. The Houthis claimed responsibility, saying their “UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] force” attacked “one of the important targets in the occupied Jaffa region, what is now called Israeli Tel Aviv”. Earlier this month, Israeli forces said they detected a suspected Houthi drone heading towards the Red Sea port of Eilat, which they shot down using a fighter jet. The Iran-backed group has also launched waves of maritime attacks targeting shipping through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, causing major disruption and a precipitous drop in business at the port of Eilat. The Houthis have said they launched the attacks in response to Israeli attacks on Gaza, which have so far killed more than 38,000 people since the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel. The drone attack shook residents of Tel Aviv, undermining a fragile sense of security as Israelis in the north close to the border with Lebanon increasingly fear incursions by drones or rockets sent by Hezbollah, while communities close to the border with Gaza remain on high alert for sporadic rocket fire. Footage from the site in Tel Aviv showed broken glass strewn across the city pavements as crowds of onlookers gathered near a building bearing blast marks. The site, close to a US embassy annexe in Tel Aviv, was sealed off by police tape. Emergency services said the explosion took place at about 3.15am local time, striking a building in the centre of the city. “The blast apparently occurred at some altitude,” the Tel Aviv police district commander, Peretz Amar, told the Israeli outlet Haaretz from the scene. “We still do not know what it was. Right now we are clearing the area. There was a lucky escape here.” Police found a body bearing injuries caused by shrapnel in the building, which is located on the corner of Ben-Yehuda Avenue and Shalom-Aleichem Street, a spokesperson said.