Israel says drone launched from Yemen struck Tel Aviv

A drone launched from Yemen struck a building in Tel Aviv, killing at least one person and injuring another eight, according to Israeli officials.

A Samad-3 drone launched in Houthi-dominated Yemen overnight hit a building in central Tel Aviv, Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Friday.

The Samad-3 drone is Iranian-built and often supplied to Tehran’s proxies across the Middle East, including the Houthi rebels in Yemen who have been fighting against U.S. forces in the Red Sea and targeting merchant ships in the waters since Israel’s war broke out against Hamas on Oct. 7.

Dozens of drones have been launched from Yemen over the course of the war, with U.S. forces or Israeli troops intercepting most of them, Hagari told reporters, but “during the incident, no alert was activated.”

“We are still thoroughly examining the incident,” Hagari said. “We are conducting an inquiry into the incident and examining why the [drone] was not identified as a threat and intercepted before it hit.”

Houthi forces shared a statement on pro-Iranian media channels claiming the strike on Tel Aviv, saying the attack was carried out with a new drone they claimed was capable of “bypassing the enemy’s interception systems and cannot be detected by radar.”

The Houthis also threatened to continue targeting Tel Aviv, vowing to keep hitting Israel “deep into its territory.”

Israel is fighting a multifront war as the country has come under attack from across the Middle East, though most of the daily fighting is against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, both of which are supported by Iran.

The U.S. has struggled to deter the Houthis from launching attacks on ships in the Red Sea after directly fighting against them for more than half a year. The Houthis and Hezbollah have said they will only stop fighting if a cease-fire is reached in Gaza.