A man in his 50s died in his home in central Tel Aviv at about 3:00 a.m. on Friday, July 19, 2024, killed by shrapnel from a drone that blew up over Ben Yehuda Street. Ten other people were hurt.
Police said the ten were lightly injured and were taken from the scene for treatment. Xinhua, citing Israeli sources, described the aircraft as a long-range drone, and the Houthis claimed the attack.
The blast was heard in other cities in central Israel. Peretz Amar, the Tel Aviv District Police commander, told reporters at the scene that “the destruction is spread over a relatively large area.” He said police believed the drone detonated in midair, not on a building or the ground. “We have testimonies from civilians who saw a red explosion in the sky,” he said.
The street lies about 140 meters from the U.S. embassy and close to the Tel Aviv shoreline. Axios quoted an American official as saying the embassy branch office was not damaged and no U.S. citizens were hurt.
Sirens stayed silent
No air raid sirens sounded. The Israeli army spokesman said, “The attack did not activate the sirens and the incident is under investigation.” Israel’s Channel 13, citing a preliminary army report, said the drone had been detected but not intercepted because of “human error.” It gave no further detail.
An Israeli military spokesman later said an initial inquiry found the aircraft was an Iranian-made drone launched from Yemen. The military said it had opened an investigation into why air defenses failed to stop it, and it raised air patrols over Israeli airspace. The Home Front Command left its guidelines for residents unchanged.
Mayor Ron Huldai put the city on its highest alert, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. Axios called it one of the most serious attacks on Tel Aviv since Oct. 7 of the previous year.
Houthi claim
Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesman, said the group’s air force used a drone to hit “an important target in the Tel Aviv area.” He wrote on X that the strike was retaliation for Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip, and that it was one of many possible targets, including “sensitive military and security targets.”
Saree said the weapon was a “new drone called ‘Yafa,’ which is capable of bypassing interception systems and is undetectable by radar.” The group also declared the Tel Aviv area “unsafe” and said it “will be a primary target” for its weapons.
It was the first Houthi attack aimed at Tel Aviv. Most of the group’s earlier strikes went after the coastal cities of Eilat and Haifa. The Houthis have also fired missiles and drones at ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that are Israeli-owned, Israeli-flagged, operated by Israelis or bound for Israeli ports, saying they act in solidarity with Gaza.
Sources
- 1 Israeli killed in drone attack on Tel Aviv
- 1 killed, 10 injured in Houthi drone attack of Israel's Tel Aviv
