LONDON — A man has been killed and at least eight people injured in a drone attack in central Tel Aviv, Israel.
A block of flats was hit by what an Israeli military official said was an Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which had been modified to fly long distances.
The Houthi movement in Yemen – over 1,000 miles (1,600km) away – said it carried out the attack, and vowed to stage more. Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said an initial investigation pointed to the attack having originated in Yemen.
If the Houthis are responsible, it would mark a significant escalation in their attacks on Israel which began in the wake of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which was triggered by the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October.
Until now, almost all Houthi missiles and drones fired towards Israel have been intercepted. None are known to have reached Tel Aviv.
The Israeli military official said its defense forces had detected the incoming drone but had not tried to shoot it down because of “human error”.
Dramatic video filmed from the beach, said to capture the moment of the attack, appears to show a drone flying in over the Mediterranean Sea and buzzing loudly. It flies over buildings before disappearing, followed by a huge explosion moments later.
Pictures from the scene of the blast, near a branch of the US embassy, show a building with its windows blown out, and damaged cars and debris on the street below.
The attack happened at 03:12 (00:12 GMT) and the explosion was heard for several miles around.
The Times of Israel news site quoted the Israeli Air Force as saying the incident “shouldn’t have happened”, and that it took full responsibility for the failure to prevent it.
Senior military correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, Yonah Jeremy Bob, said “The Israeli defense establishment is in a state of complete shock” over the attack.
“Though the writing was on the wall, no one saw it coming from a couple thousand kilometers away,” he wrote.
A military spokesman for the Houthis, Yahya Saree, said the strike had been conducted with a new drone capable of bypassing interception systems.
He declared Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial capital, “an unsafe area,” and said it “will be a primary target within the range of our weapons”.
The Israeli military said it was increasing air patrols, while Tel Aviv’s mayor said the city was on high alert, local media reported.
Alon, a local resident, told Haaretz newspaper that when the blast happened “the whole building shook.”
“My neighbors’ windows shattered, so I was sure something had hit the building. It was only when I went outside that I realised that several buildings had been damaged.”
The incident also came after the Israeli military confirmed it had killed a senior commander of the Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah and Israel have traded fire across the border since Hezbollah launched rockets a day after Israel began its military offensive on Gaza in response to Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel.
Hezbollah and the Houthis, which are both backed by Iran, say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians. — BBC