Hours after a building near the US embassy in Tel Aviv came under attack, Israeli organisations have posted dramatic footage of a drone flying across the city’s skyline and zoning in on its target.
The video shows the drone slicing through the Israeli commercial capital’s skyline, passing very close to a skyscraper before hitting a residential building. There is an explosion followed by a fire.
Posting the video, the X handle of the Israeli foreign ministry said the unmanned aerial vehicle entered Israel from the West
“It appears that this is a Simad 3 UAV, which we estimate travelled from Yemen to Tel Aviv. The Simad 3 is an Iranian weapon system that has likely been upgraded to extend its flight range. As a result of the impact, one civilian was killed, and eight civilians were lightly injured. May the memory of the victim be a blessing and may the injured have a speedy recovery,” it wrote.
IDF: During the night, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) entered Israel from the direction of the sea from the west, which we estimate was launched from Yemen, and hit a building in central Tel Aviv.
It appears that this is a Simad 3 UAV, which we estimate traveled from Yemen to… pic.twitter.com/6DiRAeSp4t
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) July 19, 2024
The Israel Defense Forces also posted the video and wrote that it will continue to protect Israelis against terrorism.
The drone attack, which hit a building 100 metres from the US embassy annex, has been claimed by the Houthis in Yemen.
‘Human Error’
The Houthis fired a “new drone called ‘Yafa’, which is capable of bypassing the enemy’s interception systems,” the Iran-backed Yemeni movement’s spokesman, Yahya Saree, said.
According to a report by news agency AFP, an Israeli military official said a “very big” drone was used in the attack on Israel’s commercial capital, explaining that “human error” led to it not being intercepted.
The Houthis have launched scores of drone and missile attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November in a campaign they say is an act of solidarity with Palestinians.
They have also repeatedly claimed to have struck Israeli cities, including Eilat, Ashdod and Haifa, in the past, but Friday’s attack appears to be the first by the group to have breached Israel’s intricate air defences.
Police said one man was found “dead in his apartment” and had suffered shrapnel wounds.
In recent weeks, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-backed groups, has claimed drone strikes against targets in Israel, labelling many of them “joint operations” with the Houthis.
