Yemen’s Houthi group has claimed responsibility for an apparent drone attack on Tel Aviv, Israel, which killed one person and injured at least 10.
A spokesperson for the Houthi armed forces said in a post on social media on Friday that the Iran-aligned group had “targeted ‘Tel Aviv’ in occupied Palestine”.
It claimed that it used a new drone “capable of bypassing interceptor systems and being unable to be detected by radars”.
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”.
“We’re talking about a large UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] that can fly large distances,” a military official told a briefing for journalists following the strike. “We’re not ruling out any possibilities right now.”
Israel’s air force has increased patrols to “protect the country’s skies”, the military said in a post on social media.
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised retaliation.
“We will settle the score with anyone who harms the State of Israel or directs terror against it,” Israeli Army Radio quoted Gallant as saying.
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 pavements as crowds of onlookers gathered near a building bearing blast marks. The site was sealed off by police tape.
Reporting from Doha, Qatar, Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Jamjoom said the attack has created a new wave of anxiety in Israel.
The Israeli government has banned Al Jazeera from broadcasting from the country.
“Where this drone hit is a part of the city that is very close to the US embassy branch office. It’s a very densely populated area, a high-security area,” Jamjoom said.
If the drone is confirmed to be Houthi and passed through Israel’s radar systems undetected, “there’s going to be a lot of people in Israel concerned about what this means”, said Jamjoom.
“How did this happen at a time when the country is under such high alert?”
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said they will continue to assess the drone attack in the coming days to adjust its defences and decide on a suitable “offensive response”.
Israeli opposition politician Yair Lapid said the attack was “further proof that this government does not know and cannot give security to the citizens of Israel”.
“Those who lose deterrence in the north and south also lose it in the heart of Tel Aviv. There are no policies, no plans, all public relations and discussions about themselves. They [the government] have to go,” the leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party wrote on X.
The 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 reported.
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.
Following the latest drone attack, Hezbollah welcomed the development as “a triumph for the oppression of the Palestinian people and their fighters”.
It said the Yemeni fighters were supporting “the heroic” Palestinian fighters in Gaza who in turn are defending “all our people and countries of our Arab and Islamic nations”.
The group said the fight will not stop until “the aggression and the siege of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is stopped”.
The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement also praised the Houthi rebels for “a new heroic operation” against Israel, adding that Palestinians appreciated the “steadfast” support of Gaza.
