JAKARTA - The Houthi militia group claimed its long-range drones hit downtown Tel Aviv, Israel in the early hours of Friday, in an attack that killed one person and injured four others, the Israeli military and emergency services said.
The explosion, which did not trigger an airstrike alarm, came hours after the Israeli military confirmed it had killed a senior commander of Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon.
"We are talking about a large UAV (Unmanned Air Vehicle) that can fly remotely," an Israeli military official told reporters after the attack.
The official did not confirm claims from Yemen-based Houthi militias, but said: "We are not ruling out anything at this time."
Separately, a Houthi militant spokesman said the group had attacked Tel Aviv by drone and would continue to target Israel as a form of solidarity with Palestine in the Gaza war.
In a televised address, spokesman Yahya Saree called Tel Aviv the main target "within our arms reach".
He said the attack was carried out using a new drone called "Yafa", which he said was able to bypass the interception system and was not detected by radar. "The operation has achieved its goal successfully," said Saree.
The attack on Tel Aviv is likely to spark concerns about the further impact of the Gaza war, as the Houthis and other Iranian proxies side with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Israeli officials said the military was still investigating why the drone did not trigger an alarm, but preliminary reports showed the drone was identified, but the sirens were not heard because of human error.
The military said air patrols had been upgraded to protect Israeli airspace but said it had not yet ordered any new civilian defense measures, but the mayor of Tel Aviv said the city, Israel's economic center, had been transferred to a high alert status.
Israel's emergency services said the body of a 50-year-old man was found in an apartment near the site of the explosion and said his condition was being investigated.
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Four people were taken to hospital with minor injuries due to shrapnel and four others were treated in shock. All of them were then sent home, the hospital said.
Footage from the scene showed a clear impact on a building located close to the US embassy's location in Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, Israeli media said fragments of similar drones widely used by Iran-backed militia groups in the region had been found nearby.
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