Israel shaken as fatal Houthi drone hits Tel Aviv after interception failure

An Iranian-made drone sent by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck Tel Aviv in the early hours of Friday, killing one person and wounding at least 10.

The hit in Israel’s biggest city was startling, because the drone appeared to have crossed much of the country through the multilayered air defenses that have intercepted almost all Houthi drones and rockets since the Gaza war began.

The Israeli military said it was investigating what went wrong. Its chief spokesperson, R Adm Daniel Hagari, said the drone was detected by air defenses, but an “error” occurred and “there was no interception”.

“We are investigating the entire chain,” he said. Another military official told the Associated Press news agency that “human error” was to blame.

The military said air patrols had been increased to protect Israeli airspace but it had not ordered new civil defense measures.

The defense minister, Yoav Gallant, vowed to “settle the score”, Israeli army radio reported. His remarks followed a meeting with top military and intelligence officials to assess the strike.

The military identified the drone as an Iranian Samad-3, upgraded to travel long distances, and said it was believed to have come from Yemen.

The Houthis claimed responsibility, saying their “UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] force” attacked “one of the important targets in the occupied Jaffa region, what is now called Israeli Tel Aviv”.

Earlier this month, Israeli forces said they had detected a suspected Houthi drone headed for the Red Sea port of Eilat, which they shot down with a fighter jet.

The Iran-backed group has launched waves of attacks targeting shipping through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, causing significant disruption and a sharp drop in business at the port of Eilat.

The Houthis have said they launched the attacks in response to Israeli attacks on Gaza, which have so far killed more than 38,000 people since the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.

The drone attack shook residents of Tel Aviv, undermining a fragile sense of security as Israelis living close to the border with Lebanon increasingly fear incursions by drones or rockets sent by Hezbollah, while communities close to the border with Gaza remain on high alert for sporadic rocket fire…