Yemen Houthis' drone attack in Tel Aviv kills one person and causes shock in Israel

It is the first such strike by the Iran-backed rebels in Yemen, about 2,300km from Israel

A screengrab of the explosion in Tel Aviv.

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A drone strike on Tel Aviv claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels hit a house near the US embassy branch office on Friday, killing one person and marking a significant escalation in the Gaza war.

This is the first such attack claimed by the Iran-backed rebels and comes more than nine months into Israel's war against the Houthis' ally Hamas. The Israeli military later said it believed the attack was launched by the Houthis from Yemen.

The attack hit a central district that is home to several diplomatic missions without triggering air raid sirens.

The blast left at least one person dead, an Israeli emergency services representative said. A police report said seven people were injured.

"No sirens were activated," the army said in a statement, adding that the air force increased patrols "to protect Israeli airspace".

Army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the drone was an Iranian Samad-3 model.

He added that the military was discussing “what the required offensive response will be against those who threaten Israel”.

The attack hit a busy area of Tel Aviv, next to the US embassy. Bloomberg

The blast occurred about 100 metres from the US embassy branch office compound, CNN analysis of open-source satellite imagery of the scene found. It was not immediately clear whether the American mission was the target of the attack.

A State Department representative told The National that there was no damage to the US embassy branch office building and that no staff injuries had been reported.

"We are in close contact with Israeli authorities to fully investigate the source of the explosion and its intended target," the representative said, adding that the embassy is still able to provide consular services to American citizens.

"This caught Israel by surprise. There were casualties and it should not be taken lightly," Yoel Guzansky, senior researcher at the Israeli Institute for National Security, told The National. "There’s still much we have to find out. The Houthis claimed responsibility but it didn’t necessarily come from Yemen.

"If it did come from Yemen, 2,000 kilometres away, then it’s crazy. It shows the Houthis have mastered a lot of capabilities. It makes them more than a regional threat. I think it’s global now."

The Houthis will continue to target Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war, a military spokesman for the group said. Yemen is about 2,300km from Israel.

"The Yemeni armed forces air force, with the help of God almighty, carried out a qualitative military operation, which consisted of targeting one of the important targets in the occupied Yafa region, known as Tel Aviv," the spokesman said.

"The operation was carried out with a new drone called Yafa, which is capable of bypassing the enemy's interception systems and [is] unable to be detected by radars. The operation achieved its goals successfully.

"We announce that occupied Yafa is unsafe and will be a main target within reach of our weapons."

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said on X that the city was on “high alert” after the drone attack and told residents to follow emergency instructions. “The war is still here, and it is hard and painful,” he said.

The attack drew sharp reactions across the political spectrum in Israel.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the country would “settle the score with anyone who harms the state of Israel or directs terror against it".

Israel will respond to the attack and “the defence establishment is working to immediately strengthen all defence systems”, he said during an assessment with military chiefs.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, writing on X that: "The crash of the UAV in Tel Aviv is further proof that this government does not know and cannot give security to the citizens of Israel.

"There are no policies, no plans, [only] public relations and discussions about themselves. They have to go."

Mr Lapid added that "those who lose deterrence in the north and south also lose it in the heart of Tel Aviv", reflecting growing frustration among many in Israel that the lack of a government strategy in the Gaza war is endangering the country.

But far-right government ministers doubled down after the strike on Tel Aviv. "In a region where only strength and power are understood, [Israel does] not have the privilege of ending the war without a complete victory in all arenas and the removal of the threat posed by them," Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on X.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has complained of not having enough say in the country's military policy throughout the Gaza war, said "the red line has been crossed in the north. When you contain firing on Kiryat Shmona and Sderot, you get firing on Tel Aviv".

"This is precisely why I insist on being around the table in determining Israel's policy," he added.

Hezbollah and the Houthis are part of the Iran-backed network of militant groups in the Middle East, and have both attacked Israeli targets since the war in Gaza broke out on October 7.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander Haitham Abu Al Ghazlan told the Houthi-run Al Masirah network that the attack was a "qualitative and important development in the battle with the Israeli enemy".

Mr Guzansky believes Israel should respond by targeting Iranian assets that support the Houthis. "I think things should be done quietly, I don’t want see a direct air operation, although one is possible," he said.

The Houthis have been attacking global shipping for months in response to the Gaza War. EPA

"I would advise a precision strike on Iranian assets helping the Houthis. If Iran is targeting us, we have every right to response. It doesn’t necessarily have to be in Iran, we know they have assets in the Red Sea, Sudan and Yemen. There’s intelligence sharing with the Houthis. All kinds of things.

"The cloud of Iran over the region is only getting darker."

The attack came after a series of Israeli strikes destroyed a three-storey building in southern Lebanon on Thursday night and killed a commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan forces.

Israel said it struck the headquarters of the Radwan and killed Ali Jaafar Maatouk, known as Habib Maatouk, in a strike against "a command centre where Hezbollah terrorists were operating in the Jmaijmeh region”.

The Israeli military added that it had killed a number of other Radwan operatives in a series of heavy attacks on Thursday night.

Earlier this week, at least eight civilians were killed in Israeli strikes on south Lebanon.

That led Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah to warn that continuing to attack civilians in Lebanon would push the group “to launch missiles at settlements that were not previously targeted".