Footage from the scene appeared to show an armed projectile exploding over a residential building close to the US consulate
July 19, 2024 07:10
ByCharles Bybelezer, Jewish News Syndicate
An Israeli man was killed and four were wounded on Thursday night when a Houthi suicide drone exploded in a residential neighbourhood in central Tel Aviv.
According to an Israeli Airforce spokesman, a swift investigation had found that the explosive-laden UAV had been identified but not engaged by air defences due to “human error”.
No warning sirens were sounded as no action had been instigated against the target, even though it had been identified. Another drone heading towards Israel from the east, likely from Iraq, was shot down by fighter jets outside of Israeli airspace.
During the search of a building in Tel Aviv, Magen David Adom emergency medics found the body of a man in his 50s with "penetrating injuries" and determined that the fatality had been caused by the blast.
Medics also treated a woman in her twenties and man in his thirties for shrapnel wounds at the scene before evacuating them to Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center’s Ichilov Hospital.
Two others were wounded either by shrapnel or the shockwave of the explosion. Four additional people were being treated at hospitals for anxiety.
The explosion occurred just after 3 a.m. local time in the area of Ben Yehuda Street, a few blocks away from the U.S. diplomatic mission in the heart of the coastal city.
A US official said the embassy branch office was not damaged and no American citizens were hurt, Axios reported.
Footage from the scene appeared to show an armed drone striking or exploding over a building on the corner of Shalom Aleichem Street.
"An initial inquiry indicates that the explosion in Tel Aviv was caused by the falling of an aerial target," the IDF stated.
The military subsequently announced that the drone had been detected by air defence systems but was not intercepted due to human error.
Accordingly, no sirens were activated in Tel Aviv ahead of the attack.
The Israel Air Force "increased its air patrols in order to protect Israeli airspace," added the IDF.
A spokesman for Yemen's Houthi terrorists claimed responsibility for the "high-quality" attack using an advanced UAV dubbed "Jaffa."
On Monday, US Central Command said that the Houthis had attacked an Israeli tanker, carrying vegetable oil from Russia to China in the Red Sea, multiple times in 24 hours.
In March, a cruise missile launched by the Yemeni terrorists hit an open area near the southern resort city of Eilat. The incident marked the first time that a Houthi missile penetrated Israeli territory.
In many similar attacks since Hamas's October 7 massacre, IDF air defenses managed to shoot down the projectiles over the Red Sea.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned the attack and told Parliament, “I fully supported the UK’s role in defending Israel when Iran launched its unprecedented attack, and I utterly condemn the Houthi attack on Tel Aviv overnight.”