Daily TribuneThe blast hit a building in a street near an annex of the United States embassy.
Israeli security personnel inspect the area around the Tel Aviv apartment building where the Yemeni rebel drone hit, killing one person and wounding four
GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP
A bomb drone launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels exploded over Tel Aviv, Israel killing a man and wounding four others, while a container ship was hit by projectiles off the coast of Yemen on Friday without causing any injuries.
The rebels claimed responsibility for the drone attack while maritime security firm Ambrey linked them to the strike on the Singapore-flagged container ship 148 kilometers southeast of the Yemeni port city of Aden.
Israel military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a news conference an initial investigation showed an Iranian-made Samad-3 drone was used for the attack that “we believe was launched from Yemen” and had been upgraded to increase its range.
The Houthis, who have been carrying out dozens of attacks against Red Sea shipping to show support for Palestinians during the Gaza war, said their “UAV force” attacked “one of the important targets in the occupied Jaffa region, what is now called Israeli Tel Aviv.”
The blast hit a building in a street near an annex of the US embassy in Israel, according to an AFP journalist, who saw broken windows.
During the search, a man in his fifties was “found dead in his apartment” bearing injuries caused by shrapnel, police said.
The Magen David Adom emergency medical service said in a statement that it treated a man and a woman injured in their home, and two others hurt in the street. All four were taken to hospital with “relatively minor” injuries, it said.
The Israeli military said an initial investigation showed the blast was caused by “the falling of an aerial target” that did not set off alarms. It said air patrols had been stepped up.
If an attack is confirmed, it would be the first to cause casualties in Tel Aviv since a rocket strike launched from Gaza wounded one person on 26 May. Hundreds of rockets were fired at Tel Aviv in the 7 October attacks that set off the war, but most were intercepted.
