CNN
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A drone exploded in Tel Aviv on Friday, killing one person and injuring at least 10 others.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed the attack in retaliation for Israel’s war in Gaza. Houthi spokesman Yahya Saarey said the operation was carried out by a new drone capable of “overrunning the enemy’s interception systems”.
“We will continue to attack these targets in response to the enemy’s massacres and daily crimes against our brothers in the Gaza Strip,” Saarey said. “Our actions will only stop when the occupation ends and the blockade of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted.”
It was the first drone strike in Israel’s commercial hub of Tel Aviv, carried out by the Houthis.
In a televised briefing on Friday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said the military suspected the drone was an Iranian-made Samat-3 model, launched from Yemen, and upgraded to extend its range.
A second drone was intercepted outside Israeli territory to the east at the same time as the attack, he said, adding that Israel is now improving its air defenses and increasing aerial patrols along its borders.
An Israeli military official said the drone was detected by the Israeli air defense system but not intercepted due to “human error”. It was armed with a warhead and crashed into an apartment building, the official added, without providing further details about the device’s payload.
The official did not provide details on what the human error was, but noted that Israel’s air defense systems do not always operate autonomously. For example, the Iron Dome defense system can operate in manual mode, where its radar detects and tracks incoming threats, but requires input from an operator before launching an interceptor missile.
According to a preliminary investigation, “no sirens were activated” during the incident, the IDF previously said.
US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew said on Friday he was “shocked by the Houthi drone attack” and offered his condolences to the families of the victims. “Our US embassy staff are safe,” he added.
Ricardo Moraes/Reuters
An investigator examines a damaged window of a building at the site of an explosion in Tel Aviv on July 19, 2024.
According to a CNN analysis and information from local officials, the explosion occurred in the center of several diplomatic missions and struck about 100 meters (330 feet) from the US embassy branch office.
The U.S. State Department said there was no damage to the U.S. diplomatic mission and no reports of injuries to U.S. personnel or “locally engaged personnel.”
“We are in close contact with Israeli authorities to fully investigate the source of the explosion and its motive,” the spokesman said, adding that the embassy in Jerusalem and the branch in Tel Aviv were ready to provide consular assistance to US citizens.
Israel’s Magan David Adom (MTA) emergency service said emergency crews responded to “an object” that exploded on Shalom Aleichem Street.
“The deceased suffered from penetrating injuries,” MDA paramedic Roy Klein said. At least four of the injured sustained shrapnel injuries, MDA said.
Ricardo Moraes/Reuters
A man walks down the stairs of a building damaged by an explosion in Tel Aviv on July 19, 2024.
Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and opposition leader Yair Lapid have criticized the Israeli government for failing to protect the country, saying on social media that the attack “cannot protect Israeli citizens”.
“There are no policies, no plans, public relations and discussions are all about themselves,” he said.
The attack on Tel Aviv and other parts of Israel is “precisely why I insist that I be around the table in determining Israel’s policy,” Ben Gvir said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved the country’s war cabinet in June.
Yemeni rebels have regularly targeted Israel with drones and missiles since the country’s war with Hamas began, most of which have been intercepted by Israel’s defenses.
The Houthis have been attacking US targets and merchant ships since Israel launched its occupation of Gaza following an October 7 attack by Hamas. More than 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were kidnapped.
of Israel Air and ground attack on killed more than 38,000 people in the Gaza enclave, according to Palestinian officials. The war has displaced nearly all of the Strip’s population of more than 2 million, reduced large swaths of the territory to rubble and triggered a massive humanitarian crisis.
The war has raised fears of a wider regional conflict, with potential consequences of further human suffering and trauma for the global economy. Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, for example, have forced some of the world’s largest shipping and oil companies to shut down transit. The most important sea trade routes.
Houthi spokesman Sare said the operation targeting Tel Aviv was carried out by a new drone called “Yafa” which “can bypass the enemy’s interception system. Undetectable by radars.”
Fabian Hinz is a Research Fellow in Defense and Military Analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. Wrote in X Houthi’s claims should not be taken at face value.
“In general, the Houthis’ claims are a mixed bag. “Sometimes they are accurate, sometimes they are exaggerated, sometimes they are outright fabrications,” he wrote, adding, “Their claims of truth should be taken with a much larger grain of salt than Iran or Lebanon’s Hezbollah.”
However, he said the Sammat drone used in the Tel Aviv attack was “a standard Houthi long-range attack drone” already used in attacks against Israel, but with a more powerful engine.
For the Houthis, extended drone range would be attractive because it would allow them to strike targets further away, fly routes that avoid enemy defenses, and strike from unexpected angles.
Ahmed Naghi, a senior Yemen analyst at the Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group, told CNN that the Houthis are likely to take advantage of the attack, especially since Israel’s defenses failed to stop it.
“They will take advantage of this not only inside Yemen but also outside Yemen,” Nagy said, adding that the attack came ahead of the rebel group’s weekly rallies in support of Gaza held every Friday in Yemeni cities controlled by the Houthis. He said the attack “gives momentum” to these rallies.
Friday’s drone strike in Tel Aviv came after the Houthis said earlier this month that they had targeted ships in the Israeli port of Haifa with several drones in joint military operations with Iran-backed militias in Iraq.
The IDF told CNN it was not aware of any such incident.
This story has been updated with additional updates.
