UPDATES WITH ISRAELI ARMY STATEMENT
By Anadolu staff
At least one Israeli was killed and 10 others were injured in a Houthi drone attack early Friday, Israeli media reported.
The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported that “a bomb-laden drone exploded at the intersection of Shalom Aleichem and Ben Yehuda Streets in Tel Aviv, hundreds of meters away from the American Embassy.”
The Israeli army spokesman stated that “the explosion occurred in the early morning hours on Friday in Tel Aviv due to an aerial attack.”
“The attack did not activate the sirens and the incident is under investigation,” he added.
The Israeli Channel 13 quoted a preliminary army investigation report that said the drone that hit Tel Aviv was detected but not intercepted due to “human error,” without providing further details.
The Axios news website quoted an American official as saying that “the American embassy branch office wasn't damaged and no U.S. citizens were hurt.”
The website said this has been “one of the most serious attacks on Tel Aviv” since Oct. 7 last year.
The daily Yedioth Ahronoth quoted the Israeli army saying that there is no intelligence indicating that the Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv was intended to attack the US Embassy in Israel.
The daily also reported that the Tel Aviv municipality is on the “highest alert.”
It noted: “Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said early on Friday that the city has been put on the highest alert after the drone strike in the early morning hours.”
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi rebels confirmed the drone attack on Tel Aviv.
In a statement, the group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said “the group’s air force carried out a military operation using a drone in Tel Aviv.”
He explained that the operation “hit an important target in the Tel Aviv area.”
The Houthi group declared the Tel Aviv area “unsafe area," and said it "will be a primary target" for their weapons.
This is the first Houthi attack targeting Tel Aviv. The majority of their previous attacks targeted the coastal cities of Eilat and Haifa.
The Houthis have been targeting ships that are Israeli-owned, flagged, operated, or headed to Israeli ports in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones in solidarity with Gaza, which has been under a devastating Israeli onslaught since Oct. 7 last year.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi