Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed to retaliate after last night's attack on Tel Aviv with a drone that took off from the territory of Yemen, in which one person was killed and eight were wounded, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
"The Ministry of Defense is working to immediately strengthen all defense systems. We will settle our accounts with anyone who harms the State of Israel or undertakes terrorist acts against it," Gallant warned in a statement released by the Ministry of Defense office.
Israel's emergency services said one person was killed and eight were injured in a powerful explosion near a branch of the US embassy in Tel Aviv.
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), a drone that took off from Yemen hit a residential building in the center of the city.
Earlier today, Iran-linked Yemeni Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack. They said they attacked an "important target" in Tel Aviv in response to the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. According to the military spokesman of the Yemeni rebels, Yahya Sariyah, the operation was carried out with a new drone called "Jaffa", which has the capacity to bypass Israel's air defense systems and cannot be detected by the IDF's radar systems. Sarea added that the Houthis have "a number of targets" in Israel and that Tel Aviv is under attack.
A video circulating on the Internet shows a drone flying over a beach in Tel Aviv, moving in the direction of the city's high-rises. Shortly after, a bright light appears and the sound of an explosion is heard.
According to the "Times of Israel" the drone was detected by aerial surveillance systems but was not brought down due to human error.
An IDF spokesman confirmed the information that the question of why the air raid sirens were not activated during the attack is being investigated.
Until now, Tel Aviv has remained largely unaffected by drone attacks, DPA notes. Last night's attack was carried out against a site in an extremely central location in the historic heart of the Mediterranean Israeli city.
At the same time, the Lebanese Shiite group "Hezbollah" today said it attacked the three Israeli settlements of Abirim, Neve Zhiv and Manot, which had so far not been hit by the Iranian-backed militia. "Hezbollah" indicated that it launched the attacks in response to yesterday's IDF strike, in which a field commander from the elite "Ar Radwan" forces was killed in southern Lebanon.