"TEL AVIV -- A drone strike on Tel Aviv that managed to slip through Israel's vaunted air defenses was the first such attack on the country's commercial capital since the beginning of the Gaza war.
The Israeli military said the blast early Friday was caused by a large uncrewed aerial vehicle that could travel long distances. It said it believes the device was launched by the Iran-aligned Houthi militant group from Yemen, roughly 1,250 miles away.
The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had targeted Tel Aviv with a new drone called "Yaffa" that can evade Israeli air-defense systems.
The drone strike marks an advance in the militant group's capabilities and threatens to widen what is already a multifront war.
The fact the drone got through highlights Israel's difficulties defending against drones, a relatively cheap means of attack that is frustrating militaries around the world.
"The Israeli security system will come to terms with anyone who tries to harm the state of Israel or send terror against it in a clear and surprising way," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Friday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was briefed on the attack and held a situation assessment Friday morning, according to a statement by his office.
The drone, likely an upgraded Iranian Samad-3, approached its target from the direction of the sea and was detected, but it wasn't intercepted and no air-raid sirens were activated ahead of the explosion due to a human error, the military said based on its initial findings.
"We are investigating the mishap -- why we didn't identify it, attack it and intercept it," Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said.
The military said that it did intercept an additional uncrewed aerial vehicle outside Israeli territory along the country's eastern border around the same time and that it was investigating whether the incidents were connected.
A video shared by the Israeli military on Friday that was verified by Storyful, which is owned by News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, appeared to show a small aircraft hurtling toward a building near the Tel Aviv beach followed by a flash of light and a loud explosion.
Emergency services said one person was killed and several people were injured by the blast, which hit an apartment near the U.S. Embassy's branch office in the city shortly after 3 a.m. Friday. The injuries were a result of shrapnel, shock wave or anxiety, according to Israeli authorities, and none of the injured were seriously wounded.
A U.S. official said the U.S. has been in touch with Israeli security officials to learn more and understood that Israel is conducting an investigation into what happened.
Houthi militias have previously fired missiles at Israel with a focus on the city of Eilat in southern Israel." [1]
1. World News: Drone Strike Marks Advance by Rebels. Peled, Anat; Keller-Lynn, Carrie. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 20 July 2024: A.7.
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