A drone attack on Israel’s Tel Aviv has left one person dead and at least 10 injured.
Yemen’s Houthi group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it used a new drone “capable of bypassing interceptor systems and being unable to be detected by radars.”
In a statement posted on X, Houthi armed forces Spokesperson, Yahya Saree said that the drone is called “Jaffa,” which is the name of the ancient Palestinian port city out of which Tel Aviv was established.
A member of the Yemen-based group’s political bureau, Hazam al-Assad, asserted that the drone attack on Tel Aviv is the first among an upcoming escalation in Houthi military operations against Israeli cities.
Hazam al-Assad told a news outlet that Israel should be careful “in all cities” as “what is coming is greater for the enemy as long as there is aggression against Gaza.”
Al-Assad said the Houthis have “entered a new strategic phase in operations against the enemy,” adding that there is “integration with the forces of the resistance fronts in Lebanon, Iraq, and occupied Palestine.”
Lebanon’s Hezbollah armed group called the deadly drone attack on Tel Aviv as “a triumph for the oppression of the Palestinian people and their fighters.”
It said that the Yemeni fighters were supporting “the heroic” Palestinian fighters in Gaza who in turn are defending “all our people and countries of our Arab and Islamic nations.”
The group added that the fight will not stop until “the aggression and the siege of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is stopped.”
The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement also hailed Yemen’s Houthi rebels for “a new heroic operation” against Tel Aviv, saying that Palestinians appreciated the “steadfast” support of Gaza.
The Israeli military believes the deadly drone that landed in Tel Aviv was launched by the Houthis from Yemen, and was an improved version of the Samad-3 drone designed by Iran with extended flight range.
“Iran supports, finances, and praises its agents in the region from Gaza to Judea and Samaria, all the way to Lebanon and Yemen,” Israeli military Spokesman, Daniel Hagari stated, referencing the occupied West Bank with its biblical name.
He claimed that the same drones have been repeatedly launched at Israel from Yemen since the start of the war on Gaza, most of which have been shot down by US forces or Israeli fighter jets.
Hagari said the military will continue to assess the drone attack in the coming days to adjust its defences and decide on a suitable “offensive response.”
Israeli Defense Minister Vows To Retaliate
Israel’s Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant promised retaliation following the deadly Houthi-claimed drone strike on Tel Aviv.
“We will settle the score with anyone who harms the State of Israel or directs terror against it,” he was quoted as saying.
The remarks came after Gallant met with a group of top military and intelligence officials, including Israel’s military chief of staff Herzi Halevi, for an assessment of the drone attack, which killed at least one person and injured 10 others.
However, Israeli opposition politician, Yair Lapid said that the drone attack in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv is “further proof that this government does not know and cannot give security to the citizens of Israel.”
“Those who lose deterrence in the north and south also lose it in the heart of Tel Aviv. There are no policies, no plans, all public relations and discussions about themselves. They [the government] have to go,” the leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party noted on X.
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