A drone strike claimed by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Israeli city of Travis early Friday killed one man and slightly wounded four others, the Israeli military and emergency services said. The explosion, which did not set off an air raid sirens, came hours after the Israeli military confirmed that its airstrike had killed a senior commander of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “preliminary investigations indicate that the explosion in Tel Aviv was caused by the fall of an aerial target and that no alarm was triggered. A comprehensive review of the incident is underway.”
The attack on Tel Aviv could further affect Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. A spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi rebels said the group attacked Tel Aviv with drones and would continue to target Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza war. In a televised speech, spokesman Yahya Sari called Tel Aviv “a primary target within the range of our weapons.” The Houthis and other Iranian proxies support the Palestinian militant group Hamas. It was not clear how the attack evaded Israel’s air defenses and how Israel would respond.
The IDF statement said it had increased air patrols to protect Israeli airspace but had not yet ordered new civil defence measures. However, the mayor of Tel Aviv said the Israeli economic centre was on high alert.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have repeatedly fired drones and missiles at Israel in a show of support for Hamas during the nine-month war, but until Friday all those attacks had been intercepted by Israel or its Western allies in the region.
Israel has so far refrained from launching attacks against the Houthis, instead letting its allies take the lead so it can focus its efforts on the war in Gaza and its ongoing battle with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israeli emergency services said the body of a 50-year-old man was found in an apartment close to the blast and four people were taken to hospital for treatment of minor shrapnel wounds.
Video footage from the scene showed that a building near the US Embassy in Tel Aviv was significantly hit. Broken glass was scattered on the city’s sidewalks, and a large number of onlookers gathered nearby. The scene has been cordoned off by police.
Israeli media said fragments of a type of drone widely used by Iran-backed militias were found near the scene.
Since the start of the Gaza war, Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in daily missile and artillery fire along the northern border and in southern Lebanon, raising concerns that an escalation could spark a wider regional conflict.
The attack came as international mediators hope to push Israel and Hamas to reach a phased ceasefire and release about 120 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
Israel has a multi-layered air defense system capable of intercepting threats ranging from long-range ballistic missiles to drones and short-range missiles. These systems have intercepted thousands of munitions during the Israeli-Palestinian war. But officials warn that they are not 100% reliable.