Israel’s military says it is investigating suspected drone attack and why the country’s defences failed to intercept the ‘aerial target’.
Yemen’s Houthi fighters have claimed responsibility following a suspected drone attack on Israel’s Tel Aviv, which killed one person and injured at least 10, according to reports.
A spokesperson for the Houthi armed forces said in a post on social media on Friday that the Yemen-based group had “targeted ‘Tel Aviv’ in occupied Palestine”.
The Israeli military said it had opened an investigation into the large explosion near the United States Embassy office in the city and would determine why the country’s air defence systems were not activated to intercept the “aerial target”.
Israel’s air force has increased patrols to “protect the country’s skies”, the military added in a post on social media.
Israeli police said the body of a man was found in an apartment close to the explosion and that the circumstances were being investigated.
Footage from the site of the blast showed broken glass strewn across the city pavements as crowds of onlookers gathered near a building bearing blast marks. The site was sealed off by police tape.
مشاهد جديدة من مكان وقوع الانفجار وسط تل أبيب#الجزيرة #فيديو pic.twitter.com/GM5BQf3TIS
— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) July 19, 2024
Translation: New scenes from the scene of the explosion in central Tel Aviv.
Yemen’s Houthis have repeatedly launched drones and missiles towards Israel and at Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in a show of support for Palestinians amid Israel’s war on Gaza.
Until the early morning attack on Friday, all attempts to hit Israel by the Houthis were intercepted by either Israeli defences or Western allies with forces stationed in the region, the Associated Press news agency reports.
Hezbollah in southern Lebanon has also stepped up attacks against military targets in northern Israel, saying they are also acting in solidarity with Palestinians amid Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed almost 39,000 people.