One dead in rare drone strike on Israel claimed by Yemen's Huthis

One dead in rare drone strike on Israel claimed by Yemen's Huthis

World

Houthis said their "UAV force" attacked "one of the important targets in the occupied Jaffa region

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TEL AVIV (AFP) – A drone claimed by Yemen's Huthi rebels slipped through Israel's vaunted air defence system on Friday to hit a Tel Aviv building near a US embassy annex, killing one person.

The Huthis fired at Tel Aviv a "new drone called 'Yafa', which is capable of bypassing the enemy's interception systems," the Iran-backed Yemeni movement's spokesman, Yahya Saree, said on social media.

An Israeli military official said a "very big" drone was used in the attack on Israel's commercial capital, explaining that "human error" led to the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) not being intercepted.

The Huthis have launched scores of drone and missile attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November in a campaign they say is an act of solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

They have also repeatedly claimed to have struck Israeli cities, including Eilat, Ashdod and Haifa, in the past, but Friday's attack appears to be the first by the rebels to have breached Israel's intricate air defences.

Earlier, Huthis claimed that they fired a drone that caused an explosion in Tel Aviv early Friday that left one person dead, injured four and set off a new shock for Israel more than nine months into its war in Gaza.

The Israeli military said an initial investigation showed the blast was caused by "the falling of an aerial target" that did not set off alarms. It said air patrols had been stepped up.

The Huthis, who have carried out dozens of attacks against Red Sea shipping to show support for Palestinians during the Gaza war, said their "UAV force" attacked "one of the important targets in the occupied Jaffa region, what is now called Israeli Tel Aviv."

The rebels last Saturday had said they would "not hesitate to expand its military operations... until the aggression stops".

If an attack is confirmed, it would be the first to cause casualties in Tel Aviv since a rocket strike launched from Gaza wounded one person on May 26. Hundreds of rockets were fired at Tel Aviv in the October 7 attacks that set off the war, but most were intercepted.

Israeli police said they received hundreds of reports around 3:00 am (0000 GMT) of "a strong explosion".

The blast hit a building in a street near an annex of the US embassy in Israel, according to an AFP journalist, who saw broken windows.

During the search, a man in his fifties was "found dead in his apartment" bearing injuries caused by shrapnel, police said.

The Magen David Adom emergency medical service said in a statement that it treated a man and a woman injured in their home, and two others hurt in the street. All four were taken to hospital with "relatively minor" injuries, it said.

"It may have been an aerial explosion... We were very lucky," said Peretz Amar, the Tel Aviv police commander, adding that "the investigation is ongoing".

'Everything shook'

A Tel Aviv resident told AFP that he was awakened by the explosion and "everything shook".

Police called on residents to "respect safety instructions and not to approach or touch debris or shrapnel that may contain explosives".

The fire brigade said it was possible that a drone had caused the explosion.

The war in Gaza began with the October 7 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants on Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza, including 42 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's military retaliation has killed at least 38,848 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Gaza health ministry.